THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 

977  228 
P?/h 


mOggm 


A  HISTORY  OF 
CRAWFORD  COUNTY,  INDIANA 


BY 


HAZEN  HAYES  PLEASANT,  A.  M. 

PROFESSOR  IN  CENTRAL  NORMAL  COLLEGE 
DANVILLE,  INDIANA 


WM.  MITCHELL  PRINTING  COMPANY 

GREENFIELD,  INDIANA 
1926 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://archive.org/details/historyofcrawforOOplea 


977.  2r^ 
!  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTEE  I   1 

Early  History  of  Crawford  County 
Size  of  the  County — Boundary — Original  Town- 
ships— Named  After — First  County  Seat — Early 
Settlers — Famous  Cases. 

CHAPTER  II   30 

Early  History  of  Fredonia 
When     Settled— Seat     of    Justice     There— What 
Thorn  Gave — Early  Settlers  of  Fredonia. 

CHAPTER  III 48 

Settlement  of  the  Town  of  Leavenworth 
After     Whom     Named — Early     Settlers     of    the 
Town — Leavenworth   Manufacturing    Company — 
Leavenworth       Seminary — County       Seminary — 
County  Seat  There — Town  Government. 

CHAPTER  IV 71 

The  County  in  the  Twenties 
Old    Method     of    Doing     Business — Many     New 
Laws — Leavenworth     Early    Mills — Early    Elec- 
tions in  Crawford — Census  of  1820. 

CHAPTER  V    87 

The  County  in  the  Thirties 
Odd  Way  of  Doing  Business — New  Law  in  Re- 
gard   to    County    Business — Leavenworth    Arena 
Started — Business  in  the  Thirties. 

CHAPTER  VI 103 

The  County  in  the  Forties 
Campaign   of   1840 — County   Seat  Fight — Moved 
by  Law — Liberty  Township  Made — Boone  Town- 
ship  Made — Tax   Rate — Board   of   Review   First 
Formed — Magnolia   Settled. 

iii 
635395 


TABLE  OP  CONTENTS— Continued 

CHAPTER   VII    120 

Alton 
Alton  Settled — Early  Election  at  Alton  in  1848 — 
Alton   After   the   War— The   Hollcrofts— Peckin- 
paugh,  Harrison  and  Co. 

CHAPTER  VIII  128 

Early  Roads  in  the  County 
Governor's     Old     Trail — Jasper     Road — Leaven- 
worth and  Paoli  Road — Leavenworth  and  Salem 
Road — Report  on  Road  Funds — Road  Districts — 
Fredonia  and  Alton  Road. 

CHAPTER  IX    139 

Roaring  Fifties 
Seminary  Interest — Trade  on  the  River — Wyan- 
dotte  Cave  Found — Methodist  and  Presbyterian 
Churches — New    Poor     House — Scott     Township 
and  Crawford. 

CHAPTER  X 150 

Other  Towns  of  the  County 
Early    Settlers    of    English — Big    Springs — Mill- 
town  Settled — General  William  Henry  Harrison. 

CHAPTER  XI 156 

Occupations  and  Customs 
Early    Cabins — Early    Mills — Timber    and    An- 
imals— Meat  Packing — Salt — Farm  Implements — 
Sports— River  Trade. 

CHAPTER  XII    182 

Early  Schools — School  Laws 
Ohio  Township  Pupils— Houses  in  Early  Days — 
Enumeration. 

CHAPTER  XIII  213 

Terrible  Sixties 
Big    Blue    Bridge    at    Milltown — Campaign    of 
1860— Bridge    Over   Little   Blue— Seacat's   Office 
Robbed — War  Record. 

iv 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS— Continued 

CHAPTER  XIV 229 

Civil  War 
President's  Call — Different  Regiments — Names  of 
Soldiers — History  of  Twenty-third — Dunn's  Ac- 
count— Knights  of  Golden  Circle — Hines'  Raid — 
Soldiers'  Claims — Knights  Caught  in  Crawford — 
Morgan's  Raid — Weathers'  Account. 

CHAPTER  XV 307 

The  Seventies 
Railroads  in  Crawford — Temple  Mobbed — Dry 
Run  Bridge — New  School  Law — Elections — Mill- 
town  Bridge — Poor  Farm— Contested  Election — 
Patoka  Bridge — Sibert  Spring  Branch — Big  Blue 
River  Bridge  at  Cole's  Yard — White  Caps. 

CHAPTER  XVI  343 

The  Eighties 
County  Seat  Fights — Stock  Petitions — Poor  Farm 
Sold  and  New  One  Bought — Mill  Creek  Bridge — 
Voting  Precincts — Railroad  Completed. 

CHAPTER  XVII   358 

Chapter  on  Education 
Condition  of  Schools — County  Superintendent — 
Springston — Hall  Elected — County  Normal — Bye 
— Robbitt  —  Pierson  —  Goldman  —  Zimmerman — ■ 
Duffin —  Robertson —  Beals —  Toney —  Pleasant  — 
Adams — Murray. 

CHAPTER  XVIII   381 

English  After  the  War 
Business    Men — Reunion — Big    Fire — New    Hub 
Mill — Big      Fires — Hammond      Brothers — Land 
Sales. 

CHAPTER  XIX 399 

County  in  the  Nineties 
Big  Bridge  at  Alton — Election  of  1890 — Marengo 
Fair — Merrilees    Bridge — County    Seat    Fight — ■ 
County  Telephone — Campaign  of  1894. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS— Concluded 

CHAPTER  XX 418 

Marengo  After  the  War 
Academy — Rock  Quarry — Cave  Found — Canning 
Factory — Big  Fire — Rice  Hub  Mill — Marengo 
Bank  —  Diamond  Theater  —  Milltown  —  Rock 
Quarry — Dr.  Ross  Killed — New  School — Meth- 
odist Church — Other  Towns  of  the  County — 
Grantsburg — Fredonia — Leavenworth  —  Incorpo- 
rated— Big  Fire  at  Leavenworth — New  Bank — 
Button  Mill. 

CHAPTER   XXI    464 

Later  Years  of  History 
Pike  Election  in  Jennings — Campaign  of  1900 — 
Claycomb's  Letter — Campaign  of  1902 — Demo- 
crats Defeated — Other  Pike  Elections — War  With 
Germany — Names  of  Boys  Selected — Gold  Star 
Boys  Except  Hanover  and  Randall — Crawford 
County  Boy  Memorial. 

CHAPTER  XXII   516 

W.  S.  Ross,  Jr. 
Tank  Fight  by  Elliott— Roy  De  Witt's  Account. 

CHAPTER  XXIII   551 

Odds  and  Ends 
Ross'     Funeral     in      1902 — Mussel     Industry — 
Churches — Mexican  War  Letter  by  McDonald — 
Good  Roads — Indian  Hollow  Bridge — Pike  Roads. 

CHAPTER  XXIV   568 

Campaign  of  1918  and  1920 
Indian  Hollow  Bridge — State  Roads — Campaign 
of    1922 — Big    Fire    at    English — Campaign    of 
1924— Primary  of  1926. 

CHAPTER  XXV    599 

Politics  in  Crawford  County 
Songs  and  Jokes — Supplement. 

CHAPTER  XXVI    609 

Who's  Who  From  Crawford  County 
Bibliography.  vi 


PREFACE 

In  this  book  I  have  tried  to  tell  clearly  and  impartially 
the  story  of  Crawford  County  from  1818  to  the  present 
time.  No  one  has  ever  written  a  history  of  Crawford 
County  before.  I  have  used  the  county  records  and  other 
reliable  sources  of  information  for  my  account  of  the 
people. 

The  accounts  of  the  Civil  War  and  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle  have  been  taken  from  Terrell's  Reports  and 
Foulk's  Life  of  Morton,  and  many  other  sources. 

Much  valuable  information  has  been  secured  from  the 
bound  volumes  of  the  Whig  Arena,  which  was  published  in 
Leavenworth  from  1838  to  1841,  a  copy  of  which  is  in  the 
State  Library. 

The  commissioners'  records  have  been  a  valuable 
source  of  information  from  1824  to  the  present  time. 

The  files  of  the  Democrat  and  the  English  News  have 
been  of  great  value  to  the  writer.  The  files  run  back  to 
1890. 

The  political  discussions  have  been  of  much  interest  to 
me.  I  have  been  acquainted  with  the  leading  men  from 
1900  down  to  the  present  time.  I  have  tried  to  write  the 
account  as  it  happened  on  all  occasions. 

vii 


PREFACE 

I  regret  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  do  justice  to  the 
World  War.  I  could  not  secure  the  names  of  the  boys 
who  were  selected  from  my  county  in  time.  The  lists  sub- 
mitted here  were  taken  from  the  files  of  the  county  papers. 
Many  errors  occur  in  these  reports. 

I  wish  to  thank  W.  S.  Ross  and  Roy  DeWitt  for  the 
information  furnished  me  relative  to  the  World  War,  and 
also  Temple  Dunn  and  John  R.  Weathers  for  the  excellent 
accounts  they  have  sent  me. 

I  wish  to  thank  all  the  people  who  have  in  any  way 
contributed  to  make  my  book  a  success. 

H.  H.  Pleasant. 


vm 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


CHAPTER   I 


EARLY  HISTORY 


Crawford  County,  one  of  the  poorest  and  smallest 
counties  of  the  state,  lies  nestled  among  the  hills  of  south- 
ern Indiana.  This  county  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Orange  and  Washington  Counties,  on  the  east  by  Harrison 
County,  on  the  south  by  the  Ohio  River,  and  on  the  west  by 
Perry  and  Dubois  Counties. 

The  territory  out  of  which  the  county  was  formed 
originally  belonged  to  Harrison,  Orange  and  Perry  Coun- 
ties. In  those  days  there  were  few  counties  in  the  state. 
Hence,  the  counties  were  large  and  men  had  to  travel  so  far 
to  the  county  seats;  for  that  reason  many  new  counties 
were  laid  out  from  territory  belonging  to  the  others. 

During  the  year  of  1818  the  people  of  what  is  now  Craw- 
ford County  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  of  Indiana, 
praying  that  a  new  county  be  formed  out  of  Harrison, 
Perry,  and  Orange  Counties.  Martin  H.  Tucker,  who  was 
one  of  the  prominent  citizens,  presented  the  petition  to 
Senator  Pennington  of  Harrison  County.  He  introduced 
a  bill  in  the  Senate  on  January  1,  1818,  where  it  passed 
January  5,   1818.     Later  the   House  passed  the  measure 

1 


2  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

which  the  Governor  signed  on  January  29,  1818.     Hence, 
January  29  is  the  county's  birthday. 

The  boundaries  of  the  county  were  not  definitely  estab- 
lished until  1831.  During  that  year  the  General  Assembly 
enacted  a  law  fixing  the  boundaries  of  the  various  counties. 
Since  that  date  the  county  has  had  the  following  bound- 
aries :  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Blue  River  and  follow- 
ing the  river  with  its  meandering  until  it  reached  the  line 
dividing  section  26  from  27  in  township  three  south,  range 
two  east,  thence  north  along  that  line  until  it  intersects  the 
river,  thence  following  the  river  with  its  windings  to  Wash- 
ington County,  thence  west  to  Orange  County  line,  thence 
south  two  miles,  thence  west  twenty  miles,  thence  south 
nine  miles,  thence  east  six  miles,  thence  south  four  miles, 
thence  east  six  miles,  thence  south  to  the  Ohio  River, 
thence  following  the  river  to  the  mouth  of  Big  Blue  River. 

On  different  occasions  the  citizens  of  Perry  County  and 
Harrison  County  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  to  be 
allowed  to  unite  certain  parts  of  these  counties  to  Crawford 
County,  but  many  of  the  petitions  have  been  rejected. 

When  the  county  was  first  organized  there  were  five 
townships.  They  were  Ohio,  Jennings,  Patoka,  Sterling 
and  Whisky  Run. 

Ohio  was  over  on  the  river,  from  which  it  probably  was 
named. 

Patoka,  which  was  in  the  west  end  of  the  county,  was 
named  after  the  Patoka  River  which  is  in  that  vicinity. 

Mount  Sterling  township,  which  was  later  called  simply 
Sterling,  was  named  after  Mount  Sterling,  Kentucky,  both 
of  which  doubtless  were  named  after  Lord  Sterling.     This 


EARLY  HISTORY  3 

Sterling  was  an  American  general  in  the  Revolutionary 
War. 

Jennings  was  named  after  Governor  Jennings  who  lived 
up  about  Charleston. 

Whisky  Run  was  named  after  an  Indian  named  Ouiska. 
Back  in  those  days  creeks  were  called  runs.  Ouiska  lived 
over  on  a  small  creek  where  his  tepee  was  located.  Being 
a  friendly  Indian  whom  the  settlers  liked,  they  often  spoke 
of  Ouiska  Run.    Later  the  word  was  written  Whisky  Run. 

Crawford  County  was  named  in  honor  of  William  H. 
Crawford,  who  was  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  in  1824. 
At  that  time  he  was  a  member  of  Monroe 's  Cabinet  and  had 
many  warm  friends  in  Indiana.  Other  men  claim  that  the 
county  was  named  after  the  unfortunate  Indian  agent 
whom  Washington  sent  west  to  deal  with  the  Indians.  That 
agent  was  named  Crawford.  He  was  captured  by  the 
Indians  and  burned  to  death  at  Sandusky,  Ohio,  about 
1782.  The  county  contained  about  three  hundred  square 
miles.  When  it  was  organized  in  1818  the  county  was 
heavily  forested.  There  were  not  many  acres  of  swamp 
land  in  the  county.  The  uplands  were  covered  with  oak, 
hickory,  gum,  beech,  poplar  and  walnut,  while  the  creek 
bottoms  were  covered  with  sugar,  elm  and  sycamore.  As 
a  hunting  ground  the  county  was  not  surpassed  by  any  in 
the  state,  while  the  streams  of  Big  Blue,  Little  Blue,  Turkey 
Fork  and  Bogard  Fork  were  the  very  best  for  fishing.  The 
white  sulphur  well  at  Sulphur,  Indiana,  is  unsurpassed  by 
any  spring  of  mineral  water  in  the  state.  The  Marengo 
and  Wyandotte  caves  are  considered  by  some  to  be  the  most 
beautiful  in  the  world. 

When  the  county  was  organized  in  1818  many  settlers 


4  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

had  located  in  various  parts  of  the  county.  Map  I  will 
indicate  who  had  bought  farms  in  Crawford  County  before 
1818  with  names  and  descriptions  of  the  land.  Just  how 
many  settlers  were  in  the  county  in  1818  one  can  not  now 
say,  but  there  must  have  been  a  large  number.  Uncle 
Peter  Peckinpaugh  located  in  the  Big  Bottom  near  Cape 
Sanday  about  1806,  but  fearing  the  Indians  he  moved  back 
into  Kentucky  and  did  not  return  for  several  years.     Mr. 

Walker  moved  from  Kentucky  and 'located  at  the 

mouth  of  Little  Blue  about  1806,  where  he  built  a  cabin 
house  and  reared  his  family  of  children.  His  grandson, 
who  keeps  the  Commercial  Hotel  at  English,  is  Mr.  A.  C. 
Walker.  The  Jones  family  is  another  old  family  among 
our  early  settlers.  Gorry  Jones,  who  was  born  in  Hardin 
County,  Kentucky,  moved  to  Crawford  County  in  1814. 
He  settled  near  Beechwood  in  Ohio  township  where  he 
married  Miss  McCoy,  who  was  a  popular  Hardin  County 
girl.  Gorry  Jones  had  a  family  of  seven  children,  five  of 
whom  were  boys  and  two  were  girls.  John  Jones,  who  was 
his  oldest  son,  was  born  in  1802.  He  married  Jane  Abell 
in  1822,  to  whom  were  born  fourteen  children.  He 
lived  in  Ohio  township  until  his  death  in  1875.  George 
Jones,  who  was  related  to  these  Joneses,  was  also  an  early 
settler.  Luther  L.  Jones,  who  lives  at  Schooner  Point  in 
Ohio  township,  is  a  grandson  of  Gorry  Jones.  The  pop- 
ulation of  the  county  in  1820  was  2,583. 

The  first  county  seat  was  located  in  section  33,  town- 
ship two  south,  range  one  east.  The  site  is  about  four 
miles  southeast  of  the  present  town  of  English.  The  site 
occupies  a  level  plain  of  land  located  on  an  elevated  tract 
of  land.     The  settlers  named  the  seat  of  justice  Mount 


EARLY  HISTORY  5 

Sterling,  after  a  town  of  the  same  name  in  Montgomery 
County,  Kentucky.  The  old  records  show  that  Birney 
Labruk  made  the  plat  of  the  town.  Thomas  W.  Aubrey, 
who  was  probably  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  in  the 
county,  states  that  Birney  Labruk  came  before  him  Jan- 
uary 25,  1818,  and  acknowledged  the  plat  to  be  the  true 
plat  of  Mount  Sterling.  Brice  Patrick,  who  was  the  county 
agent,  brought  the  plat  to  the  recorder's  office  where  Will- 
iam Samuels  recorded  the  plat  November  11,  1818.  One 
may  see  the  original  drawing  on  pages  two  and  three  of 
book  one  in  the  recorder's  office  of  Crawford  County. 

Section  4  of  the  law  which  organized  the  county  ap- 
pointed John  Ribble  of  Washington  County,  Joseph  W. 
Doke  of  Orange  County,  Samuel  Connor  of  Perry  County, 
John  McClure  of  Daviess  County,  and  Thomas  Carr  of 
Clark  County  to  compose  a  committee  who  would  locate 
a  seat  of  justice  for  the  county.  This  committee  was 
ordered  to  meet  at  the  house  of  James  Brown  and  on  the 
third  Monday  in  April  of  that  year  proceed  to  select  the 
new  seat  of  justice. 

Section  5  reads :  "It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  of 
Harrison  County  to  notify  the  commissioners  of  their 
appointment,  The  commissioners  of  the  new  county  were 
authorized  to  pay  the  members  of  this  commission  a  reason- 
able sum  out  of  the  first  money  collected." 

Section  6  reads:  "The  board  of  commissioners  of 
.Crawford  County  shall  within  12  months  after  the  seat  of 
justice  shall  be  established  proceed  to  erect  the  necessary 
public  buildings  thereon." 

Section  7  reads:  "Until  suitable  accommodations  can 
be  had  at  the  new  seat  of  justice  all  the  courts  which  are 


6  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

held  in  the  county  shall  be  held  at  the  house  of  James 
Barker,  after  which  the  courts  shall  be  held  at  the  new 
court  house." 

Section  8  reads:  "The  agent  who  shall  lay  out  and 
sell  the  lots  at  the  new  seat  of  justice  shall  reserve  in  his 
hands  10%  of  the  net  proceeds  for  use  of  a  county  library 
in  the  county.  The  sum  of  money  shall  be  paid  over  to  the 
proper  one  who  is  selected  to  receive  the  sum." 

The  commission  met  at  the  home  of  James  Brown  and, 
after  due  examination,  selected  Mount  Sterling  for  the  seat 
of  justice. 

The  streets  of  the  town  ran  north  and  south  and  east 
and  west.  The  streets  running  north  and  south  were 
named  Carr,  Ribble,  Doke,  Samuel,  Hall,  and  Totten, 
while  those  running  east  and  west  were  named  Main,  Mar- 
ket and  Water  streets.  The  streets  were  sixty-five  feet  wide 
and  the  alleys  were  ten  feet  wide. 

Only  a  few  houses  were  ever  built  in  Mount  Sterling. 
On  February  11,  1819,  Brice  Patrick,  who  was  the  county 
agent,  sold  to  William  P.  Thomasson  lots  73,  101,  105,  76, 
102,  93,  127,  75,  138,  74,  128,  113,  122,  105,  107,  137,  for 
$1,500.  These  lots  were  known  as  bond  lots,  the  record  of 
which  is  found  in  Book  I,  page  11. 

The  old  log  jail  which  was  built  in  those  early  days 
was  still  standing  in  the  sixties.  Minor  Satterfield,  who 
lives  near  the  site  of  the  town,  in  1921  told  the  author  that 
he  remembered  seeing  the  old  jail  when  he  was  a  boy.  So^ 
it  must  have  been  standing  as  late  as  1865.  The  parents 
of  William  Beasley,  who  lives  near  English,  once*  lived  in 
the  old  jail.     William  remembers  when  they  lived  there. 

The   county   clerk's  records  showed   that  the   August 


EARLY  HISTORY  7 

and  December  terms  of  the  Circuit  Court  were  held  there 
in  1818.  James  Brashear,  who  lived  there,  let  the  officers 
use  his  new  log  house  for  a  court  room.  A  few  old  apple 
trees  of  the  horse  apple  variety  were  still  standing  in  1900. 
The  writer  was  informed  that  Henry  Batman,  who  cleared 
up  some  of  the  old  fields  in  1900,  said  that  the  apple  trees 
were  still  living. 

Some  effort  was  made  to  get  settlers  to  locate  in  Mount 
Sterling.  The  General  Assembly  enacted  a  law  in  1819 
authorizing  the  county  commissioners  to  lay  out  new  lots 
and  to  alter  the  old  lots  if  occasion  required  it. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  the  growth  of  the  town 
was  the  absence  of  water.  Settlers  in  those  pioneer  days 
did  not  want  to  locate  unless  there  was  a  quantity  of 
wholesome  water  near  by.  In  the  year  of  1842  at  the  Sep- 
tember session  of  the  Board  of  Justices  one  finds  that  Sam- 
uel Pepper,  who  was  a  prominent  lawyer  in  Leavenworth, 
was  appointed  attorney  for  the  county.  He  gave  notice 
in  the  Harrison  County  Gazette,  warning  all  men  not  to 
buy  any  county  orders  issued  by  the  said  county  for  the 
improvement  of  lots  in  Mount  Sterling.  This  order  was 
posted  in  all  the  townships.  The  bill  to  appoint  commis- 
sioners to  relocate  the  county  seat  of  Crawford  County  was 
introduced  Saturday,  December  1,  1821,  and  passed  Decem- 
ber 13,  1821.  More  will  be  said  about  the  county  seat  later. 
Mr.  George  Beasley  lives  on  the  very  plot  of  ground  where 
the  old  town  was  laid  out. 

The  records  of  the  county  have  a  very  interesting  book 
on  which  are  written  the  names  of  all  men  who  bought 

*House  Journal,  1821,  pp.  105,  200. 


8  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

land  from  the  Government  with  dates  and  description  of 
the  land.  The  county  recorder  has  the  book  which  he  calls 
the  "tract  book."  From  it  the  writer  has  taken  the  names 
of  the  men  given  below : 

Henry  Green  moved  into  Crawford  County  where  he 
bought  a  farm,  August  1,  1812.  This  farm  was  located  in 
section  34,  township  2  south,  range  2  east,  being  the  south- 
west quarter  of  the  section.  Squire  Henry  Green's  farm 
lay  near  Mount  Lebanon.  Judge  Green,  who  was  born  in 
Ireland,  came  to  this  country  when  he  was  a  young  man. 
From  Virginia  he  moved  west  and  finally  located  on  the 
west  side  of  Big  Blue  River.  The  land  then  was  part  of 
Harrison  County.  Henry  Green  was  a  very  useful  citizen. 
During  his  long  life  he  was  employed  in  many  capacities 
of  service.  Crawford  County  honored  him  in  electing  him 
judge  of  the  court,  When  Davis  Floyd  visited  the  county 
in  1818  to  organize  the  first  circuit  court  in  the  county 
Judge  Green  and  James  Glenn  were  present  to  help  him. 
Under  the  old  Constitution  in  those  days  there  were  three 
judges.  David  Floyd  was  the  chief  judge  with  Glenn  and 
Green  as  assistants.  Glenn  and  Green  were  associate  jus- 
tices, which  name  was  used  in  those  days.  Green,  who  was 
elected  to  represent  Crawford  County  in  the  General  As- 
sembly in  1821,  served  the  state  and  county  well.  He  voted 
for  nearly  all  the  important  bills,  among  which  was  one  to 
establish  the  office  of  attorney-general. 

He  introduced  petitions  sent  to  him  by  Honorable 
James  Glenn  and  others,  praying  that  a  commission  be 
appointed  to  relocate  the  county  seat  of  Crawford  County. 
These  petitions  were  referred  to  a  select  committee  com- 
posed of  Henry  Green  of  Crawford  County,  Charles  Dewey 


EARLY  HISTORY  9 

of  Orange  County,  Alexander  Wallace  of  Orange  County, 
and  Moses  Kirkpatrick  of  Floyd  County.  After  the  com- 
mittee had  duly  considered  the  matter,  Green  reported  a 
bill  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  board  of  commis- 
sioners to  select  a  permanent  site  for  a  county  seat.  The 
bill  having  been  passed,  the  Governor  signed  it  on  Decem- 
ber 22,  1821.  Besides  the  good  work  done  by  Green  as  a 
legislator,  he  was  one  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  the 
county  to  whom  the  others  could  look  for  guidance.  He 
was  supervisor  on  the  "Governor's  Old  Trail"  for  a  long 
time.  He  was  justice  of  peace  for  many  years.  He  died  at 
his  home  near  Mount  Lebanon,  at  which  place  he  was 
buried  in  his  own  private  cemetery. 

No  farms  were  sold  in  the  county  during  the  year  of 
1813.  The  War  of  1812  was  on  then  and  men  were  not 
locating  in  the  West  so  freely  on  account  of  the  Indians. 

In  1814  the  following  men  bought  farms  in  Crawford 
County:  James  Totten,  Henry  Fullenwider,  William  Mc- 
Kay, Andrew  and  Joseph  Kinkaid,  Moses  Smith  and  Rob- 
ert Fields. 

Of  the  above  named  men  probably  Henry  Fullenwider 
was  the  most  noted.  He  was  a  leading  citizen  at  Alton  for 
many  years.  He  built  a  mill  near  his  home  to  which  the 
farmers  took  their  grist.  When  the  citizens  divided  up 
township  four  south,  range  one  east,  into  school  districts 
about  1837  Henry  Fullenwider  was  elected  district  trustee 
for  District  No.  4.  One  finds  in  those  days  that  each  man 
had  his  private  cemetery.  So  on  the  hill  west  of  Alton 
about  two  miles,  "Uncle  Henry,"  as  his  good  neighbors 
called  him,  selected  the  site  for  the  cemetery.  The  follow- 
ing article  appeared  in  the  Crawford  County  Democrat  a 


10  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

few  months  ago.  "A  handsome  and  appropriate  monu- 
ment, a  gift  of  their  five  living  sons,  Doctor  Jack  Fullen- 
wider  of  Mount  Vernon,  Professor  Percy  Fullenwider  of 
the  Wisconsin  Conservatory  of  Music,  John,  William  and 
Marshall  of  Roberta,  Kentucky,  was  erected  over  Haden 
Fullenwider 's  grave,  a  descendant  of  Colonel  Henry  and 
Delilah,  his  wife  at  Fullenwider 's  cemetery,  Tuesday,  Oc- 
tober 13th.  This  ceremony  recalls  the  open  hospitality  of 
this  honored  couple  for  many  years  of  their  happy  life 
spent  at  the  old  Colonel  Henry  home  which  was  the  social 
center  of  the  community  during  the  years  in  which  they 
raised  their  family  of  six  boys  and  four  girls.  The  ceme- 
tery also  contains  the  grave  of  Jonathan  Boone,  a  nephew 
of  Daniel  Boone,  who  died  in  1827.  The  colonel's  part  is 
separated  from  the  rest  by  a  stone  wall.  His  descendants 
live  near  Alton  to-day,  one  of  whom  married  Doctor  H.  H. 
Deen,  who  has  a  large  practice  at  Leavenworth." 

James  Totten,  who  was  a  very  interesting  character, 
was  appointed  sheriff  of  Crawford  County  in  1825. 

The  two  Kinkaids  were  members  of  the  Christian 
Church.  They  helped  organize  the  class  at  the  Three 
Forks  of  Little  Blue  about  1819.  They  lived  in  a  one-room 
log  house.  David  M.  Stewart  was  the  one  who  organized 
the  church  in  October,  1819.  There  were  thirteen  members 
in  Kinkaid  's  class.  After  a  few  years  a  log  house  was  built. 
One  finds  references  to  it  in  the  Commissioner's  Records. 
It  was  named  "Blue  River  Meeting  House."  The  father, 
Joseph  Kinkaid,  and  his  son,  Andrew  Kinkaid,  were  very 
prominent  citizens  of  the  county.  They  held  various  offices 
of  different  kinds.  Mary  E.  Miller  of  near  English  is  the 
granddaughter  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Kinkaid. 


EARLY  HISTORY  11 

Moses  Smith's  farm  was  located  near  English.  For 
many  years  he  was  a  leading  citizen  in  Sterling  township, 
where  he  raised  a  large  family  of  children,  one  of  whom 
was  Minor  Smith.  Minor  was  the  father  of  George  C. 
Smith  and  James  Smith.  The  people  elected  James  Smith 
treasurer  in  1916  on  the  Republican  ticket,  by  a  handsome 
majority  over  James  M.  Brown. 

During  the  year  of  1815,  John  Hastings,  John  Green, 
Robert  and  Isaac  Sands  bought  farms. 

During  1816,  Michael  Harvey,  James  Mcintosh,  Abra- 
ham Sheckels,  William  Sharp,  Eli  Wright,  Riggs  Penning- 
ton, George  Repley  and  Robert  Yates  bought  farms  in  the 
county.  Of  the  above  number  Robert  Yates  was  commis- 
sioned County  Commissioner  by  Governor  Jennings  when 
the  county  was  organized. 

The  list  of  men  who  bought  farms  in  1817  was  much 
larger.  The  following  men  were  the  most  important: 
George  Jones,  Henry  Richards,  Martin  Scott,  John  Flan- 
nery,  John  Sturgeon,  John  Sands,  Robert  Scott,  James 
Green,  Daniel  Weathers,  and  Archibald  Allen.  These  men 
were  good  citizens,  hardy  pioneers,  and  patriotic  men. 

Martin  Scott,  who  was  born  in  1777,  came  from  Vir- 
ginia. His  farm  was  situated  about  four  miles  north  of 
Leavenworth,  on  the  "Old  Leavenworth  and  Salem"  road. 
Many  of  his  descendants  live  in  the  county  today.  When 
Davis  Floyd  came  to  "Old  Mount  Sterling"  in  Crawford 
County  to  organize  the  first  circuit  court,  Mr.  Scott  was 
a  member  of  the  first  grand  jury.  He  was  road  supervisor 
and  lister  of  Jennings  township  for  many  years.  At  times 
Mr.  Scott  seems  to  have  displayed  a  very  bad  temper.  The 
records  of  the  county  show  that  he  was  fined  $1.00  in  May, 


12  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

1829,  for  swearing.  He  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  dying  in 
1858.  He  was  buried  in  his  private  cemetery.  Aniel  Fro- 
man  owns  the  well-known  farm  of  Martin  Scott. 

Daniel  Weathers  and  his  brother  Richard  were  born  in 
Wales.  They  moved  to  Virginia  and  from  there  to  Ten- 
nessee. Daniel  Weathers,  who  lived  in  Tennessee  in  1800, 
cast  his  vote  for  Adams.  Richard  Weathers  lived  in  Knox- 
ville,  Tennessee,  and  voted  for  Adams  too.  While  living 
in  Knoxville  Richard  Weathers  married  a  southern  girl. 
Neither  one  of  the  brothers  liked  slavery,  so  they  decided 
to  move  north.  They  crossed  the  Ohio  River  near  Tobacco 
Landing,  on  a  raft  which  they  pushed  by  a  long  pole.  Rich- 
ard settled  just  east  of  Milltown,  in  Harrison  County,  on 
what  is  now  known  as  the  McCutcheon  farm.  Here  he  lived 
in  a  three-sided  log  cabin. 

While  hunting  one  day  he  crossed  the  Big  Blue  River 
near  where  Milltown  now  stands  and  came  over  into  Craw- 
ford County.  The  scenery  charmed  him  so  much  that  he 
decided  to  locate  in  Crawford  County.  So  he  moved  to 
where  Marengo  now  is  and  squatted  on  what  is  now  (1919), 
Lyman  Jones'  farm.  Here  he  worked  for  25  cents  a  day 
until  he  had  saved  $75,  most  of  which  was  continental  paper 
money.  One  night  his  old  cow  found  the  purse  and  chewed 
the  money  till  it  was  damaged.  So  Mr.  Weathers  did  not 
buy  the  farm,  but  sold  out  his  claim,  and  squatted  on  what 
is  now  Dave  Apple's  farm.  Meanwhile  Daniel  Weathers 
had  been  more  fortunate,  and  had  bought  the  farm  men- 
tioned above.  Richard  Weathers,  who  was  a  hard-working 
man,  did  not  buy  till  1825. 

After  the  law  was  enacted  providing  for  Crawford 
County,  Governor  Jennings  selected  Daniel  Weathers  to  be 


EARLY  HISTORY  13 

the  first  sheriff.     The  commission  was  issued  September  8, 
1818.    The  bond  of  Sheriff  Weathers  is  here  given:  ''Know 
all  men  by  these  presents ;  that  we,  Daniel  Weathers,  James 
Barker,  John  Smith,  Robert  Yates,  Thomas  Roberts,  Riggs 
Pennington,  and  Richard  Weathers  are  held  bound  to  Gov- 
ernor Jennings  and  his  successors  in  office  for  the  sum  of 
$5000,  for  which  payment  we  jointly  and  severally  promise 
to  pay  Governor  Jennings  and  his  successors  in  office,  pro- 
vided, however,  that  if  Daniel  Weathers  discharges  his  du- 
ties according  to  law,  the  above  obligation  is  null  and  void. 
Signed  for  the  State 
James  Barker  and 
William  Samuels 
Recorder  of  C.  C. 

Signed  for  Weathers 
Daniel  Weathers 
Richard   Weathers 
Riggs     Pennington 
Thomas  Roberts 
Robert  Yates 
John   Smith 
James  Barker." 

Daniel  Weathers  performed  his  duties  faithfully  till  he 
was  relieved  from  duty  about  1822.  These  two  Weathers 
reared  large  families,  several  of  whose  sons  served  their 
country  well  in  the  Civil  War.  Major  W.  V.  Weathers, 
Captain  Enoch  Weathers,  James  M.  Weathers,  Andrew  E. 
Weathers,  and  James  Weathers  have  remarkable  war  rec- 
ords. When  Captain  Thomas  Hines  of  Bowling  Green  made 
his  daring  raid  into  Crawford  County  in  1863,  he  talked 


14  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

with  Captain  Enoch  Weathers  at  his  home  in  Marengo.  Of 
course  Weathers  did  not  know  who  he  was  then.  Last,  bnt 
not  least,  of  the  many  descendants  of  the  two  Weathers 
is  Honorable  John  Henry  Weathers  of  New  Albany.  The 
Republicans  nominated  him  for  judge  in  1896.  The  district 
was  generally  Democratic  by  600.  Weathers  was  defeated 
by  Judge  Cook  after  a  hard  fought  campaign  by  a  narrow 
margin  of  52  votes. 

The  names  of  the  men  who  bought  farms  in  Crawford 
County  in  1818  were:  Malachi  Monk,  George  Wyman, 
Moses  Smith,  Thomas  Easley,  George  Wilks,  Charles 
Springer,  Elisha  Tadlock,  Elisha  Tatten,  Peter  Funk,  Sam 
Westfall,  Abraham  Wiseman,  Cornelius  Hall,  John  Lee, 
Jacob  Conrad,  Elizabeth  Wright,  and  Peter  Sonner. 

Cornelius  Hall  was  appointed  County  Commissioner 
in  1818.  Mr.  Hall  who  was  well  read  in  law  was  one  of  the 
jurors  at  the  trial  of  Ouley,  about  which  much  will  be  writ- 
ten later.  When  Mr.  Hall's  term  of  office  expired  he  be- 
came associate  justice  of  Crawford  County  which  office  he 
held  for  many  years. 

Elisha  Tadlock  was  the  first  Seminary  trustee.  When 
the  law  was  enacted  in  1818,  Governor  Jennings  appointed 
him  trustee.  On  December  18,  1821,  he  made  his  first  re- 
port to  the  General  Assembly  of  Indiana,  which  showed 
that  he  had  $100.50  of  the  Seminary  funds.  He  was  elected 
to  represent  Crawford  County  in  the  General  Assembly 
in  1825.  He  was  overseer  of  the  poor  in  Whisky  Run  Town- 
ship for  many  years.  In  those  days  there  was  no  county 
farm  to  which  paupers  were  sent.  The  County  Commis- 
sioners generally  appointed  some  one  in  each  township. 
In  1825,  the  board  allowed  him  $37.50  for  keeping  Timothy 


EARLY  HISTORY  15 

Bennett  for  three  months.  Mr.  Tadlock  was  collector  of 
the  state  revenues  in  1827.  Mr.  Tadlock  has  many  descen- 
dants in  Crawford  County,  all  of  whom  have  been  well 
respected  people. 

Moses  Smith  bought  a  farm  near  where  English  is  now. 
He  reared  a  large  family.  His  son,  Minor  Smith,  grew  up 
in  Sterling  township,  where  he  reared  a  large  family  of 
children,  two  of  which  were  George  C.  Smith  and  James  J. 
Smith.  The  Smiths  have  always  been  good  citizens  and 
popular  with  the  people.  In  1914  George  Smith  was  elected 
trustee  of  Patoka  township  by  the  Republican  party. 
Patoka  being  a  Democratic  township  by  200  majority,  one 
can  see  that  Smith  must  have  secured  a  large  number  of 
their  votes.  James  Smith  was  elected  county  treasurer  in 
1916,  by  the  Republicans,  over  James  M.  Brown.  His 
majority  was  191.  Hence  200  Democrats  must  have  voted 
for  him.  This  will  give  the  reader  a  good  idea  of  the  re- 
spect the  people  have  for  them. 

Malachi  Monk,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers,  built 
the  "Old  Indian  Block  House"  near  where  Marengo  now 
stands.  The  exact  site  of  the  block  house  was  near  where 
County  Clerk  Ross '  house  now  stands.  His  son  was  elected 
county  auditor  in  1868,  which  office  he  held  till  1876. 

Abram  Wiseman  located  in  what  is  now  Ohio  township. 
He  and  Jacob  Wiseman  moved  to  Kentucky  and  later  into 
Crawford  County.  These  two  Wisemans  reared  large  fami- 
lies in  Crawford  County.  Among  the  war  records  one 
finds  George  E.  Wiseman,  Philip  Wiseman,  Abram  Wise- 
man, William  Wiseman  and  Henry  Wiseman  were  soldiers 
in  the  Union  army  while  Henry  Newton  Wiseman  was  in 
the  Spanish  American  War.    In  the  World  War,  many  of 


16  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

his  descendants  took  part.  The  Wisemans  have  always  been, 
since  the  Civil  War,  Republicans. 

The  Wisemans  claim  that  in  the  early  history  of  the 
West  a  certain  Wiseman  boy  was  captured  by  the  Indians 
who  adopted  him  into  the  tribe  of  Shawnees.  When  he 
became  a  man,  he  married  an  Indian  girl.  To  them  was 
born  an  Indian  boy  who  became  the  famous  Tecumseh. 
Later  he  left  the  Indians. 

Captain  Peter  Funk  was  an  outstanding  character  in 
history.  When  Harrison  called  on  him  and  wanted  him 
to  organize  a  company  of  cavalry  and  march  against  the 
Indians,  he  lived  in  Kentucky.  He  mounted  a  horse,  and 
at  great  speed  rode  to  the  Capitol  and  asked  permission 
from  the  Kentucky  Governor.  The  road  from  Louisville 
was  so  bad  that  the  horse  died  from  exhaustion.  In  the 
battle  the  man  used  good  judgment  and  his  men  gave  a 
good  account  of  themselves.  The  men  kept  cool  and  fired 
where  they  saw  flashes  of  the  Indians'  guns.  When  day 
came  they  were  easily  routed  by  a  few  vigorous  charges. 
The  historian  affirms  that  the  Prophet  told  the  Indians  that 
he  would  stand  on  a  certain  high  rock  and  sing  the  magic 
songs  during  the  battle,  and  that  he  could  charm  away 
the  balls  fired  from  the  Kentucky  rifles.  After  the  battle 
he  was  called  to  account  for  his  conduct.  He  saved  his 
reputation  among  the  Indians  to  some  extent  by  explain- 
ing that  his  squaw  had  "tinkered"  with  the  beads  on  the 
chain,  but  many  of  the  Indians  still  feared  Harrison,  Funk, 
and  Daviess.  Mr.  Funk,  after  the  war  was  over,  settled 
about  two  miles  north  of  Milltown.  The  Funks  have  been 
a  prominent  family  all  through  the  history  of  the  county. 
Solomon  Funk  and  John  E.  Funk  were  supporters  of  the 


EARLY  HISTORY  17 

Republican  party  in  1860.  Later  John  E.  Funk,  who  was 
elected  County  Commissioner  in  1894,  helped  to  move  the 
seat  of  justice  from  Leavenworth  to  English  in  1895. 
Another  descendant  of  these  Funks  is  Cadmus  Funk,  who 
was  elected  Sheriff  over  the  Democratic  candidate  by  331 
votes.  The  county  being  heavily  Democratic,  one  will  see 
that  Funk  must  have  been  very  popular,  since  his  opponent, 
Louis  V.  By  rum  was  a  very  good  man  too. 

The  names  of  the  men  who  bought  farms  in  the  county 
in  1819,  were :  John  Roth,  Henry  Richards,  John  Hughes, 
Henry  Jones,  John  Sheckels,  Jonathan  Bird,  William 
Groves,  and  David  Rice. 

In  1820,  Dave  Miller,  Sam  Kemp,  John  Morgan,  Joseph 
Van  Winkle,  Addison  Williams,  and  Reuben  Wright 
bought  farms  in  Crawford  County. 

Sam  Kemp's  farm  was  west  of  Fredonia  about  two 
miles,  in  section  7,  town  4  south,  range  1  east.  Here  he 
reared  a  family.  One  of  the  sons  was  John  Kemp  who  was  a 
member  of  the  49th  Indiana  Volunteers.  He  was  wounded 
several  times  in  action.  Uncle  Sam  Kemp's  grandson  lives 
in  Alton  today.    His  name  is  Clay  Kemp. 

Much  can  be  said  about  Addison  Williams  whose  farm 
was  located  in  section  14,  town  3  south,  range  1  east.  He 
worked  hard  to  secure  settlers  for  the  county.  He  platted 
a  town  which  he  called  New  Haven.  The  plat  was  recorded 
at  the  county  seat.  No  one  bought  lots  so  no  town  grew  up. 
Later  he  platted  a  town  called  Magnolia.  Here  several  men 
bought  lots  and  built  houses.  Mr.  Williams  operated  a 
large  still  and  a  mill  in  Magnolia.  The  plat  was  filed  in 
the  Recorder's  office  July  4,  1838.     Magnolia  is  situated 


18  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

northwest  of  Leavenworth  about  four  miles.  Today  it  has 
several  houses,  store,  and  postoffice. 

In  1821,  these  men  bought  farms  in  the  county :  James 
Brown,  James  McMartin,  Robert  Samuels,  Richard  White, 

Hamilton  McKee, Gwartney,  Ed  Sturgeon,  William 

Riley,  Lawrence  Beers,  John  VanMeter,  Archibald  Stone, 
John  Condra,  Mason  Jenkins,  B.  Bogard,  Joel  Lyons,  Rich- 
ard White,  James  Mansfield,  Jackson  Nicholson,  James 
Totten,  Abram  Bird,  John  Goldman,  David  Lowe,  Burton 
Parr. 

The  Mansfield  family  lived  at  Leavenworth.  James  M. 
Mansfield,  who  was  a  son  of  James  Mansfield,  was  a  Union 
soldier  in  time  of  the  Civil  War.  In  1866  he  was  elected 
clerk  of  the  county.  The  school  at  Mansfield  was  named 
after  him  because  he  gave  the  lot  of  ground  on  which  the 
house  was  built. 

Burton  Parr  was  a  very  useful  citizen.  One  of  his 
grandsons  was  E.  E.  Parr,  who  is  trustee  of  Boone  Town- 
ship at  date  of  writing. 

James  Totten  proved  a  good  citizen.  He  was  appointed 
sheriff  in  1825.     At  that  time  the  office  was  hard  to  fill. 

Abram  Sheckels  bought  a  large  farm  near  Cape  Sandy. 
There  he  built  a  double  log-house  which  is  still  standing. 
Men  use  it  for  a  tobacco  barn  now.  The  Sheckel  school, 
which  stood  near  the  East  Cemetery,  was  named  after  him. 
This  school  house  was  burned  down  about  1896.  Oliver 
Morton  Sheckel,  who  is  superintendent  of  the  city  schools 
of  Brownstown,  is  a  descendant  of  "Uncle  Abram" 
Sheckel. 

Iu  1822  these  men  bought  farms:  Julius  Woodford, 
Peter    Frakes,    David    Brown,     Obadiah     Childs,     Jacob 


EARLY  HISTORY  19 

Conrad,  Wilson  Scott,  Samuel  McMahan,  Robert  S.  Thorn, 
Reuben  D.  Thorn,  Thomas  Conon,  and  Ebenezer  E.  Morgan. 

Julius  Woodford  for  many  years  was  one  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  the  county.  He  was  elected  county  com- 
missioner from  the  second  district  in  1833,  to  succeed  Zebu- 
lum  Leavenworth  whose  term  expired  that  year.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  merchants  of  Leavenworth.  In  those  days 
men  were  compelled  to  get  a  license  to  keep  a  store.  The 
record  shows  that  he  was  granted  a  license  in  1825,  to  sell 
foreign  merchandise.  He  sold  the  lot  to  the  seminary  trus- 
tees in  1835,  on  which  the  old  seminary  was  built. 

E.  E.  Morgan  became  one  of  the  county's  most  influen- 
tial citizens.  He  held  many  offices  of  trust  one  of  which 
was  the  office  of  County  Recorder.  He  was  appointed  to 
this  office  in  1825,  and  retired  in  1846,  after  21  years  of 
service. 

John  Austin  and  William  Patton  bought  farms  in  1823. 
This  year  saw  the  entries  of  the  Austins  and  Pattons  whose 
descendants  are  found  scattered  over  the  hills  of  old  Craw- 
ford County. 

The  list  in  1824  was:  John  R.  Wyman,  Henry  Rhodes, 
David  Wilbur,  Edward  Riddings. 

For  1825,  these  men  bought  land :  David  Beals,  Joseph 
Beals,  Richard  Weathers,  John  Mahan,  Robert  Baldwin, 
Adam  Denison,  Walter  Gresham,  John  Funk,  Will  Stroud, 
and  Thomas  Walker. 

This  year  saw  a  new  list  of  men  enter  the  county.  The 
Beals  family  has  been  one  of  the  most  prominent.  Supt. 
S.  A.  Beals,  of  English,  is  a  grandson  of  Joseph  Beals 
whose  farm  lies  in  Jennings  township.  The  farm  is  now 
owned  by  Marsh  Parr. 


20  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  Gresham  family  later  located  in  Harrison  County, 
where  Walter  Q.  Gresham  was  born.  He  became  a  well 
distinguished  citizen  of  Indiana,  a  learned  judge  on  the 
Federal  Bench  in  Illinois,  a  candidate  for  the  presidency 
in  1888,  and  Secretary  of  State  under  Cleveland  in  1893, 
until  his  death  in  1895. 

One  should  not  pass  by  the  Walker  family  without  com- 
ment. Thomas  Walker's  farm  was  near  the  mouth  of 
Little  Blue.  Here  he  reared  a  family  of  children,  one  of 
whom  married  a  southern  girl  about  the  time  of  the  Civil 
War.  The  southern  men  never  liked  this  man.  When  the 
Civil  War  was  going  on  they  caught  him  and  tested  him 
thoroughly  by  all  kinds  of  questions.  One  asked  him  for 
whom  he  voted  for  president.  When  they  heard  him  answer 
"Lincoln"  they  became  furious  but  for  some  reason  he  was 
spared.  A.  C.  Walker,  who  is  proprietor  of  the  Com- 
mercial Hotel  at  English,  is  a  grandson  of  Thomas  Walker. 

In  1826,  these  men  bought  farms:  Henry  Brag,  Sam 
Scott,  William  Good,  R.  S.  Thorn,  and  Dudley  Gresham. 

John  Peckinpaugh,  David  Lone,  Charles  Springer, 
William  Riley,  David  Attleberry,  Robert  Milescat,  Francis 
Able,  Thomas  Parr,  Milton  Holcraft,  0.  Raymond,  Thomas 
Davidson,  Samuel  Bird,  W.  P.  Thompson,  Edward  Butler, 
William  Taylor,  James  Stuart,  and  Isaiah  Bullington 
bought  farms  in  1827. 

No  farms  were  sold  in  1828.  The  list  for  1829  was: 
John  Leggett,  J.  H.  Mills,  Seth  and  Zebulum  Leavenworth, 
Woods  Proctor,  Librim  Frisbie,  John  Lynd,  and  Thomas 
Davidson. 

The  preceding  lists  contain  the  names  of  all  the  men 


EARLY  HISTORY  21 

who  bought  farms  until  1830.    By  referring  to  the  map  one 
can  see  where  each  man's  farm  was  located. 

FAMOUS  CASES 

OULEY    CASE 

When  Crawford  County  was  cut  off  from  Harrison 
County,  it  was  put  into  the  New  Albany  district  for  court 
purposes.  Our  first  circuit  judge  was  Davis  Floyd.  This 
Floyd  had  been  a  conspicuous  character  in  the  early  history 
of  Indiana  territory.  He  joined  Aaron  Burr's  conspiracy 
and  was  his  agent  to  collect  boats  and  men  at  Jeffer- 
sonville.  He  left  Jefferson ville  December  16,  1806.  Burr's 
company  was  broken  up.  Davis  Floyd  was  caught,  tried 
for  treason,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  serve  three 
hours  in  the  Government  prison  at  Jeffersonville.  Later 
he  was  judge  of  the  circuit.  Floyd  County  was  named 
after  him. 

He  made  the  circuit  of  the  district  holding  court  at 
each  county  seat.  The  first  session  was  held  at  Mount  Ster- 
ling in  Crawford  County  August  1,  1818.  Judge  Floyd 
was  assisted  by  Judge  Henry  Green  and  James  Glenn,  both 
of  whom  were  honorable  men.  The  new  court  house  and 
jail  had  not  yet  been  built.  James  Brasher  let  the  judges 
use  his  new  cabin  house.  This  house  was  too  little  to  ac- 
commodate all  the  jurors,  so  they  sat  around  on  logs  in 
the  yard. 

Sheriff  Daniel  Weathers,  who  was  commissioned  sheriff 
by  the  Governor  was  present  and  handed  into  the  court 
the  following  men's  names  for  a  grand  jury:  Cornelius 
Hall,  Lazarus  Stewart,  Alex  King,  William  Osborn,  James 


22  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Lewis,  Elias  Davis,  Elisha  Potter,  Alex  Barnett,  William 
Potter,  Robert  Yates,  Peter  Peckinpaugh,  William  Scott, 
Reuben  Laswell,  Abraham  Wiseman,  George  Tutter,  Mar- 
tin Scott,  John  Sturgeon,  Robert  Sands,  Isaac  Lamp,  Ed. 
Gob  in,  and  Malachi  Monk.  Just  how  the  men  were  selected 
the  records  do  not  explain.    They  were  certainly  good  men. 

These  men  elected  Cornelius  Hall  foreman.  After  due 
consideration  the  jury  returned  a  bill  against  James  Ouley 
for  murder  in  the  first  degree.  The  evidence  showed  that 
Ouley  had  followed  Briley  through  the  woods  for  some 
distance  and  had  shot  him  in  the  back,  about  where  his 
suspenders  crossed. 

The  ball  came  out  in  his  neck,  making  a  wound  about 
eight  inches  deep.  Briley  died  almost  instantly  and  Ouley 
escaped.  Just  what  motive  Ouley  had  for  shooting  Briley 
one  can  hardly  tell  now.  References  and  information  are 
so  meager.  Probably  he  took  what  money  the  man  had 
and  his  horse  and  escaped.    No  one  knows. 

Briley  lived  on  Patoka  Creek,  in  what  is  probably  now 
part  of  Orange  County,  not  far  from  the  present  town  of 
English.  He  left  home  with  a  sack  of  wool  and  was  on  his 
way  to  Corydon  to  get  the  wool  carded.  He  was  traveling 
on  the  governor's  old  trail  which  ran  from  Vincennes  to 
Corydon.  The  exact  spot  where  the  shooting  occurred  the 
writer  is  not  able  to  locate.  It  happened  near  the  top  of 
white  oak  hill  about  one-half  mile  south  of  where  the  old 
Bushow  school  house  used  to  stand,  on  the  farm  owned 
some  time  ago  by  Billie  Troman.  The  location  is  just  east 
of  the  Marengo  and  Leavenworth  road.  It  seemed  that 
Ouley  and  Briley  were  angry  about  some  trouble  they  had 
had. 


EARLY  HISTORY  23 

This  horrible  murder  occurred  on  July  1,  1818.  Ouley 
dragged  the  body  a  few  feet  from  the  Old  Trail  and  put  it 
behind  a  log  near  the  road.  He  then  escaped  with  the 
horse. 

Several  hours  later  one  of  Lazarus  Stewart's  sons  was 
returning  from  a  mill  on  Big  Blue  River  with  a  grist  of 
corn.  Darkness  came  on  in  the  heavy  forest.  Still  he  moved 
on  his  way.  As  the  horse  neared  the  spot  where  the  fatal 
shooting  occurred  the  animal  began  to  snort  and  show 
signs  of  fear.  The  boy,  who  was  about  fourteen  years  old, 
for  some  reason  was  not  afraid  at  all.  He  kept  urging  the 
horse  up  gently  toward  the  big  log  near  the  road  from 
which  the  foul  odor  appeared  to  come.  Nearing  the  log 
he  saw  some  dark  object  behind  it.  On  careful  examina- 
tion, when  pieces  of  bark  were  removed,  the  form  of  a  man 
was  discovered.  Hastening  on  to  the  town  of  Big  Springs 
he  told  the  men  what  he  had  found.  A  crowd  of  men  with 
lights  took  the  boy  back  with  them,  so  that  he  could  show 
them  the  exact  spot  where  the  corpse  was.  When  they 
arrived  there  and  examined  the  body,  it  was  found  to  be 
Briley,  who  lived  away  out  on  Patoka  Creek  somewhere. 
Some  say  he  lived  out  on  Dog  Creek,  but  the  fact  of  the 
matter  is  that  the  northwest  part  of  the  county  was  so 
thinly  settled  then,  that  one  cannot  well  locate  the  exact 
home  of  Briley  or  Ouley.  It  might  have  been  the  second 
day  too,  before  his  body  was  found.  Ouley  took  his  horse 
and  traveled  east  on  the  Old  Trail. 

The  men  after  finding  the  body  took  up  the  trail  of 
the  horse  by  its  tracks  in  the  soft  earth.  Over  near  the  Big 
Blue  River  the  men  found  a  saddle  hanging  in  a  tree.  This 
encouraged  them  very  much.    Pursuing  the  trail  through 


24  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  woods  farther,  suddenly  they  found  a  horse  tied  to  a 
dogwood.  Evidently  the  horse  had  been  there  some  time, 
because  bark  was  gnawed  off  of  the  bush,  and  the  ground 
was  torn  up  considerably  where  the  horse  had  been  stand- 
ing. 

Going  on,  the  men  came  to  the  bottom  land  near  the 
river.  Here  they  were  greatly  surprised  to  see  James  Ouley 
in  a  pawpaw  patch.  He  seemed  to  have  been  there  for 
some  time,  just  walking  around,  devoid  of  reason.  Sheriff 
Weathers  arrested  him  and  brought  him  back  to  Mount 
Sterling.  Later  he  was  put  into  the  famous  old  block 
house  at  Marengo.  As  far  as  known,  Weathers  had  no 
writ  for  Ouley,  but  captured  him.  Ouley  did  not  seem 
to  talk  and  was  in  a  stupor  of  some  kind. 

The  bill  returned  by  the  grand  jury  read: 
"James  Ouley,  late  of  Crawford  County,  a  yeoman,  not 
having  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  but  moved  and  se- 
duced by  the  spirit  of  the  Devil  on  July  1,  1818,  with  force 
and  arms  in  Whisky  Run  Township  in  and  upon  William 
Briley  in  the  peace  of  God,  then  and  there,  being  wilful 
and  of  malice  a  fore  thought  did  make  and  against  James 
Ouley  with  a  certain  rifle  gun  of  the  value  of  $10,  loaded 
with  gun-powder  and  a  certain  leaden  bullet,  with  which 
gun  the  said  Ouley  did  shoot  William  Briley  in  the  back, 
and  the  ball  came  out  in  his  neck,  making  a  wound  about 
8  inches  deep,  from  which  wound  Briley  died  almost  in- 
stantly. ' ' 

The  trial  began  immediately.  Ouley  plead  not  guilty 
and  demanded  that  the  county  furnish  him  an  attorney. 
The  court  appointed  Henry  Stephens  and  Harbin  Moore 


EARLY  HISTORY  25 

to  defend  him,  while  William  Thompson  was  appointed 
prosecuting  attorney  for  that  session  of  the  court. 

Daniel  Weathers,  the  sheriff,  had  a  large  number  of 
men  present  from  whom  these  men  were  selected  for  a 
petit  jury :  Elisha  Lane,  Constance  Williams,  Marcus 
Troelock,  Joseph  Beals,  Andrew  Troelock,  David  Beals, 
John  Goldman,  James  Richie,  William  May,  George  Peck- 
inpaugh,  Thomas  W.  Cummins,  and  Robert  Grimes.  Con- 
stance Williams,  who  had  been  in  the  Revolutionary  War, 
was  selected  as  foreman  of  the  jury. 

The  trial  was  conducted  out-of-doors  in  the  woodyard. 
The  jury  sat  around  on  logs.  There  was  no  doubt  but  they 
were  the  best  men  in  the  county.  From  them  have  come 
the  Lanes,  Williams,  Beals,  Goldmans,  Richies,  Peckin- 
paughs,  Grimes,  and  Cumminses.  They  were  sworn  to 
hear  the  evidence  and  decide  the  case.  After  all  the  wit- 
nesses were  examined,  the  pleading  done,  and  the  judge 
had  instructed  the  jury,  the  men  retired  to  consider  the 
evidence.  After  some  time  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of 
guilty  and  placed  his  sentence  at  death. 

The  counsel  for  the  defense  asked  for  a  new  trial  on 
these  grounds:  1.  That  the  verdict  was  contrary  to  the 
state  law;  2.  that  the  evidence  was  not  sufficient;  3.  the 
conduct  of  the  jurors  was  not  proper;  4.  that  outsiders 
talked  to  the  jurors  during  the  trial;  5.  that  Elisha  Lane 
had  expressed  his  opinion  before  the  trial  began;  6.  that 
one  juror  was  too  much  indisposed  to  pay  the  proper 
amount  of  attention  that  such  a  case  demanded.  That 
juror  in  question  was  said  to  have  been  asleep.  . 

The  court  not  being  fully  advised  adjourned  until  the 
next  day,  when  it  refused  the  defendant  a  new  trial,  and 


26  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

asked  him  if  he  had  any  reason  why  sentence  of  death 
should  not  be  passed  upon  him.  He  asked  the  court  to 
arrest  the  judgment  of  the  jurors  on  these  grounds: 
1.  That  he  was  a  wheelwright  made  the  evidence  uncer- 
tain; 2.  that  the  bill  did  not  have  the  name  of  the  state 
or  county  in  it.  The  court  over-ruled  the  argument  and 
passed  this  sentence  upon  him :  That  he  should  be  kept 
in  the  old  block  house  in  custody  of  the  sheriff  till  October 
1,  1818,  when  he  should  be  taken  out  on  the  same  road  or 
on  whatever  new  road  might  be  laid  out  by  that  time  in 
one-half  mile  of  Old  Mount  Sterling,  between  the  hours 
of  10  a.  m.  and  2  p.  m.  and  hanged  by  the  neck  till  dead. 

Sheriff  Weathers  took  the  prisoner  back  to  the  old 
block  house,  where  he  was  kept  till  the  day  of  execution. 
Farmers  of  the  neighborhood  volunteered  to  help  guard  the 
jail.  Men  say  that  Ouley  became  desperate  as  the  time 
grew  near.  He  tried  to  gnaw  through  the  logs.  Long 
years  afterwards,  when  the  block  house  was  torn  down,  one 
could  see  where  he  had  gnawed  through  the  white  of  the 
oak  logs  probably  an  inch  deep. 

Cornelius  Hall,  who  lived  near  where  Marengo  now 
stands,  was  a  cabinet  maker.  He  made  the  coffin  for  Ouley. 
When  the  day  came,  Richard  Weathers,  who  was  a  brother 
of  Sheriff  Daniel  Weathers,  hauled  Ouley  out  to  the  scene 
of  execution  in  his  ox  cart.  Ouley  sat  on  his  coffin  in  the 
wagon  while  guards  well  armed  were  on  all  sides.  When 
they  came  to  the  trees,  a  rope  was  fastened  to  the  limb 
of  a  tree  and  Ouley  was  put  on  a  barrel  in  the  wagon  with 
the  noose  over  his  head  just  right.  When  everything  was 
ready  Daniel  Weathers  gave  his  brother  a  nod.  He  hit 
the  oxen  a  tap  and  they  started  forward,  leaving  Ouley  iSSfoMSM 


EARLY  HISTORY  27 

swinging  from  the  branch.    He  was  buried  in  a  grave  near 
the  tree. 

Many  years  later,  in  1900,  Henry  Batman  cleaned  up 
the  old  field  and  planted  it  to  corn.  He  found  near  the 
road  a  large  oval  spot  of  clay  dirt,  while  all  the  rest  was 
dark  loam.  This  must  have  been  the  clay  which  was  dug 
up  and  thrown  out  from  the  grave.  The  details  of  the 
above  story  were  furnished  by  M.  E.  Stewart,  grandson  of 
Richard  Weathers. 

THE   FIELDS    CASE 

After  the  county  seat  was  moved  to  Leavenworth 
another  affair  occurred  near  Milltown,  Indiana,  for  which 
the  offending  culprit  was  hanged  at  Leavenworth.  James 
Fields,  who  was  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  came  home 
one  night  and  ordered  his  mother  to  get  up  out  of  bed 
and  get  his  supper.  She  did  not  arise  as  quickly  as  he 
thought  that  she  should  and  he  drew  a  revolver  and  fired 
at  her  where  she  was  lying  in  bed.  The  ball  pierced  her 
thigh.  This  shameful  act  occurred  June  7,  1846.  She 
lived  until  June  10th,  when  she  died.  The  jury  returned 
an  indictment  against  Fields  and  Sheriff  Sam  Clark  ar- 
rested him,  and  lodged  him  in  jail  at  Leavenworth.  The 
bill  read  thus :  James  G.  Fields,  late  of  Crawford  County, 
not  having  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  but  moved  by 
the  spirit  of  the  devil  did  with  force  and  a  certain  revolver 
worth  about  $1.00,  loaded  with  powder  and  ball;  to  wit, 
against  one  Susanah  Fields  in  the  peace  of  God  did  shoot 
with  said  revolver  and  inflict  a  wound  from  which  the 
said  Susanah  Fields  died  on  the  10th  day  of  June,  1846, 
at  her  home  near  Milltown,  Indiana. 


28  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

When  brought  before  the  bar  of  justice  Fields  pleaded 
that  he  was  not  guilty  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Grand 
Jury  had  indicted  him.  The  following  men  were  selected 
for  a  jury:  A.  B.  Tower,  James  VanWinkle,  Sam 
McMahon,  Walker  Main,  Swango  Hadden,  William  Arm- 
strong, Marmaduke  McCarney,  James  S.  Temple,  James  G. 
Sloan,  Charles  Comcien,  Nincom  Haskens,  and  Gabriel 
Williams.  After  all  the  evidence  was  in,  the  case  argued 
by  the  attorneys,  the  jury  retired  to  consider  the  case,  but 
the  jury  could  not  agree.  The  jury  was  discharged  on 
November  11,  1846. 

A  new  trial  was  held  with  this  jury :  George  Jones, 
Oliver  Hannon,  John  Jones,  Greenbury  Roberts,  John 
Goldman,  N.  C.  Peckinpaugh,  Tich  Warner,  James  D. 
Jones,  William  Dean,  Andrew  Beers,  Elias  0'  Bannon, 
John  K.  Tyler.  This  jury  found  Fields  guilty  of  murder 
in  the  first  degree  and  sentenced  him  to  death. 

Judge  John  Lockhart  called  Fields  to  him  and  read 
the  sentence  to  him :  That  he  should  be  kept  in  the  Leaven- 
worth cell  till  December  18,  1846,  and  on  that  day  he  was 
to  be  taken  out  and  hanged  by  the  neck  till  dead,  and  may 
the  Lord  have  mercy  on  his  soul. 

The  sheriff  with  his  assistants  built  the  gallows  near 
where  the  old  carding  machine  used  to  stand.  That  morn- 
ing hundreds  of  men  had  come  to  Leavenworth  to  see  the 
hanging.  Sheriff  Clark  took  every  precaution  to  see  that 
the  law  was  enforced.  Six  men  with  guns  walked  behind 
the  wagon  when  the  procession  left  the  county  jail.  The 
coffin  was  put  in  the  wagon  and  Fields  was  placed  on  the 
coffin,  in  a  sitting  position,  in  which  condition  he  was 
driven  to  the  gallows.    He  was  taken  to  the  trap  door  and 


EARLY  HISTORY  29 

the  noose  was  adjusted  over  his  head.  The  death  cap  was 
placed  on  his  head.  When  all  was  ready  Sheriff  Clark 
struck  at  the  rope  with  a  knife,  but  he  was  so  nervous  that 
he  missed  the  rope.  The  second  time  he  cut  the  rope.  The 
trap  door  fell,  letting  the  victim  fall  directly  down.  The 
rope  broke,  but  several  men  sprang  forward  and  caught 
Fields  in  their  arms  and  held  him  as  high  as  they  could 
till  some  one  tied  the  rope.  The  writer's  father,  who  saw 
the  whole  affair,  said  that  Fields  just  kicked  a  little  with 
one  foot  when  he  hit  the  ground  and  while  they  were  hold- 
ing him  up,  till  the  rope  was  tied  again.  The  men  pro- 
nounced him  dead  after  sufficient  time  had  elapsed.  He 
was  taken  down  and  buried  near  the  Leavenworth  and 
Cory  don  road  just  east  of  Leavenworth.  Thus  ended  the 
hangings  in  Crawford  County. 


CHAPTER  II 

FREDONIA 

While  Judge  Davis  Floyd  was  holding  the  first  session 
of  the  Circuit  Court  in  Crawford  County  and  the  good 
citizens  of  Mount  Sterling  were  hanging  James  Ouley,  a 
new  town  was  laid  out  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River  by 
Allen  D.  Thorn  and  Robert  S.  Thorn.  These  men  who  had 
moved  from  Virginia  to  Indiana  settled  in  Crawford 
County.  Allen  D.  Thorn  made  a  plat  of  the  town  and  filed 
the  plat  in  the  Recorder's  office.  William  Samuels,  who 
was  the  first  County  Recorder,  stated  that  Allen  D.  Thorn 
came  before  him  personally  and  acknowledged  the  plat  to 
be  the  true  plat  for  the  town  of  Fredonia,  June  22,  1818. 

The  site  where  this  town  was  laid  out  was  one  of  the 
most  picturesque  of  all  river  towns.  At  this  point  the  Ohio 
River  makes  a  great  bend  in  the  shape  of  an  ox-bow  or  a 
horse  shoe.  Hence,  it  is  known  in  history,  as  the  ox-bows 
or  horse-shoe  bend.  The  river  sweeps  far  northward  into 
Indiana  and  then  glides  away  gently  to  the  south.  Stand- 
ing on  this  high  bluff  one  can  see  down  the  river  as  far  as 
Schooner  point  and  up  the  river  to  Leavenworth. 

From  Indian  Hollow  to  Schooner  point,  the  river  hill 
is  so  very  precipitous,  that  one  can  not  build  a  road  to  the 
river  except  where  some  creek  runs  into  the  river.     So  on 

30 


FREDONIA  31 

this  high  plateau,  Allen  D.  Thorn  and  Robert  S.  Thorn 
laid  out  the  town  site  for  Fredonia.  The  site,  as  already 
stated,  commands  a  view  of  the  Ohio  River  for  several 
miles,  so  that  hostile  Indians  could  not  approach  without 
being  seen.  From  the  Ohio  River  bluff  the  level  land  ex- 
tends back  about  one-half  mile  west,  before  the  land  be- 
comes rough  and  hilly,  and  descends  to  Little  Blue  River 
and  Turkey  Fork.  So  there  was  a  fine  site  for  a  town  on 
this  high  hill. 

The  plat  of  the  town  shows  that  the  Thorns  were  patri- 
otic. The  streets  running  east  and  west  are  Warren,  Green, 
Washington,  Adams,  and  Taylor.  Those  streets  running 
north  and  south  are  Water,  High,  Market,  Posey,  and 
Poplar.    Main  street  ran  east  and  west  through  the  town. 

At  that  time  any  man  owning  land  and  wishing  to 
sell  it  could  lay  out  a  town  plat  and  try  to  sell  the  lots. 
That  way  he  might  make  some  money  out  of  the  land  if 
many  people  bought  lots.  The  owner  generally  took  the 
plat  to  the  recorder  for  record.  Many  men  bought  lots 
in  the  town.  Locust  trees  were  set  out  on  the  street,  many 
of  which  are  still  standing.  Plenty  of  good  water  was 
found  by  digging  several  deep  wells.  Thorn's  well  was 
about  86  feet  deep  and  six  feet  in  diameter.  It  has  abund- 
ance of  water  in  it  the  year  around.  This  well  was  walled 
from  bottom  to  top  with  stone,  much  of  which  was  dressed. 
This  indicates  that  much  work  must  have  been  done  in  its 
construction.  The  other  wells  were  very  deep  ones  too. 
They  may  be  seen  in  the  town  today. 

One  serious  objection  to  the  growth  of  Mount  Sterling 
was  the  absence  of  good  water.  Creek  water  could  not 
be  used  because  of  the  danger  of  impurities.     After  the 


32  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

county  seat  was  located  in  Fredonia,  the  General  Assembly 
of  Indiana  enacted  a  law  providing  that  the  county  seat  of 
justice  must  not  be  moved  again  under  any  condition, 
unless  a  good  supply  of  wholsome  water  was  available. 
This  law  is  found  on  page  86  of  Indiana  Laws  of  1827. 
Allen  D.  Thorn  had  a  very  rich  brother  named  Reuben 
T.  Thorn.  He  owned  much  land  in  the  county  in  those 
days.  The  red  on  map  3  shows  the  amount  of  land  owned 
by  the  Thorn  brothers.  In  all  there  were  1,468  acres  of 
which  Allen  D.  Thorn  owned  80  acres.  As  far  as  known 
Reuben  T.  Thorn  never  lived  in  the  county.  He  remained 
at  his  home  in  Fredericksburg,  Virginia.  This  Reuben  T. 
Thorn  was  very  desirous  of  having  the  seat  of  justice  moved 
to  Fredonia.  The  town  of  Fredonia  had  several  houses 
erected  and  had  far  outgrown  the  town  of  Mount  Sterling. 
One  can  not  find  much  information  that  many  houses  were 
ever  built  there,  except  Brashear's,  while  Tomasson  owned 
a  few  lots  in  the  town.  He  felt  sure  that  he  could  sell  his 
land  better  if  the  seat  of  justice  was  located  there.  So 
he  went  about  the  matter  in  a  manly  way.  He  offered  to 
give  a  tract  of  land  on  which  the  court  house  could  be  built 
and  a  jail  erected.  At  that  time  no  one  had  the  right  to 
move  the  seat  of  justice  from  Mount  Sterling.  So  James 
Glenn,  who  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  the  county,  and 
one  of  the  associate  justices,  sent  a  petition  to  Henry  Green, 
who  represented  the  county  in  the  General  Assembly  at 
Corydon,  praying  that  the  seat  of  justice  be  re-located  and 
a  committee  be  appointed  to  locate  a  permanent  seat  of 
justice.  This  petition  being  read  by  Henry  Green  Novem- 
ber 21,  1821,  was  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  which 
Green   of    Crawford    County,    Tipton   of   Perry    County, 


FREDONIA  33 

Dewey  and  Wallace  of  Orange  County,  and  Kirkpatrick  of 
Floyd  County  were  members,  with  permission  to  report 
by  a  bill  or  otherwise.  The  committee  reported  out  a  bill 
on  November  30,  which  came  up  in  the  House  on  December 
2,  and  was  passed  on  Thursday,  December  15,  1821.  In 
the  meanwhile  many  petitions  were  sent  to  the  General 
Assembly  praying  that  the  bill  be  enacted.  Hence,  one 
can  say  that  the  citizens  approved  the  bill.  After  a  few 
days  the  Senate  passed  the  bill  and  the  Governor  signed 
it.  This  new  law  provided  that  Samuel  Connor  of  Perry 
County,  Henry  Thornton  of  Scott  County,  Stephens  Rainy 
of  Clark  County,  Isaac  Stewart  of  Floyd  County,  and  Rob- 
ert Evans  of  Vanderburg  County  should  be  commissioners 
whose  duty  it  should  be  to  meet  at  the  court  house  in  Mount 
Sterling  on  March  1,  1822,  and  after  due  examination  to 
re-locate  the  seat  of  justice  if  the  committee  thought  that  it 
was  beneficial  to  the  people  of  the  county.  The  committee 
wTas  to  value  the  improvements  made  on  the  lots  in  Mount 
Sterling  and  the  cost  of  digging  the  public  well.  The  state 
was  to  pay  the  men  who  bought  lots  in  Mount  Sterling  up 
to  the  value  of  the  improvements  in  case  the  seat  of  justice 
was  removed. 

The  county  agent  was  empowered  to  examine  the  court 
house  in  Fredonia  and  if  he  found  it  better  than  the  one 
at  Mount  Sterling  he  should  notify  the  committee  who 
would  authorize  the  county  officers  to  move  their  books  to 
the  new  location  which  the  committee  had  chosen,  or  would 
choose,  if  it  had  not  done  so  yet.  If  the  committee  moved 
the  seat  of  justice,  then  the  sheriff  was  authorized  to 
notify  the  county  commissioners  where  to  meet  when  the 
time  came  for  the  meeting. 


34  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

In  the  meanwhile  Mr.  Thorn  had  constructed  a  brick 
house  about  thirty-nine  feet  long  and  thirty-three  feet 
wide  and  two  stories  high.  The  second  story  was  used  for 
a  court  room  and  the  first  floor  for  county  offices.  He 
offered  to  give  this  house  to  the  county  for  the  court  house. 
He  also  was  to  build  a  log  jail,  all  of  which  were  to  be 
given  to  the  county  if  the  seat  of  justice  was  located  there. 

The  committee  met  at  Mount  Sterling  and,  after  due 
consideration,  decided  to  accept  Mr.  Thorn's  generous 
offer.  Mr.  Thorn  made  the  deed  in  due  time.  It  reads : 
This  indenture  was  made  on  the  12th  day  of  November, 
1822,  between  Reuben  T.  Thorn  of  Fredericksburg,  Vir- 
ginia, by  his  attorney,  Allen  D.  Thorn,  on  the  first  part, 
and  Thomas  Davis,  Cornelius  Hall,  and  Robert  Yates, 
county  commissioners  of  Crawford  County  on  the  second 
part  and  their  successors  in  office.  That  the  said  Reuben 
T.  Thorn  by  his  attorney,  Allen  D.  Thorn,  for  in  consider- 
ation of  the  county  seat  being  permanently  located  at  Fre- 
donia  on  the  receipt  of  which  is  hereby  granted  and 
acknowledged  and  bargained  and  sold  and  hath  granted  to 
the  county  commissioners  and  their  successors  in  office  for 
the  use  of  the  county  this  tract  of  land  :  ' '  Beginning  at  the 
center  of  section  10,  township  4  south,  range  1  east,  run 
south  91.5  poles,  east  89.5  poles,  to  a  certain  white  oak  tree, 
thence  north  91.5  poles,  thence  west  to  the  starting  point, 
in  all  about  50  acres.  The  said  commissioners  to  have  and 
to  hold  said  land  with  all  of  its  appurtenances  on  the 
land." 

The  deed  was  recorded  by  the  county  recorder  on  De- 
cember 16,  1822.  The  court  house  was  constructed  out  of 
brick.     The  men  who  built  the  house  did  good  work  and 


FREDONIA  35 

used  good  material.  The  old  court  house  is  still  standing. 
The  Methodist  Church  owns  it  now.  The  old  log  jail  has 
rotted  down  and  gone.  It  was  not  used  much  after  1840. 
The  county  has  not  used  the  house  for  court  purposes  since 
1843. 

The  jail  was  made  out  of  hewed  logs.  As  far  as  known 
only  one  man  ever  escaped  from  the  jail  until  it  was  con- 
demned in  1840.  He  was  Thomas  Farmer.  It  is  said  that 
he  burned  his  way  out  and  was  under  way  well  before 
Sheriff  James  Totten  saw  him.  Henry  Conrad,  the  stray 
pen  keeper,  and  the  sheriff  pursued  him  to  the  river  bluffs 
where  he  eluded  the  guards  and  escaped  to  Kentucky. 
John  Carnes  then  made  a  new  trap  door  for  the  jail.  This 
happened  in  May,  1825. 

In  making  a  summary  of  the  gifts  of  the  Thorn  brothers 
one  may  give  these:  1.  They  built  the  court  house;  2. 
They  built  a  log  jail ;    3.     They  gave  a  tract  of  land ;  and 

4.  They  built  a  road  from  the  town  to  the  river.     Robert 

5.  Thorn  had  agreed  to  build  a  road  well  enough  up  that 
steep  creek  so  that  two  horses  could  pull  2,000  pounds  of 
freight.  When  the  board  doing  county  business  met  Jan- 
uary, 1825,  the  members  inspected  the  road.  The  justices 
voted  to  receive  the  road.  Two  of  the  members  wanted 
their  votes  given  as  dissenting  votes  until  they  saw  a  man 
haul  2,000  pounds  up  the  river  hill.  The  experiment  was 
never  made  and  William  Course  and  Samuel  Sands  have 
recorded  the  two  dissenting  votes. 

The  county  sheriff  was  not  responsible  for  the  prisoners 
back  in  the  good  old  days.  The  board  doing  county  busi- 
ness generally  appointed  a  man  jailer.  Then  he  could  hire 
men  to  help  him  guard  the  jail  when  there  were  prisoners 


36  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

in  it.  January,  1827,  Samuel  Clark  and  Ephriam  Conrad 
were  allowed  $2.50  each  for  guarding  D.  Buras  in  the 
county  jail. 

When  the  court  house  was  ready,  tradition  has  it  that 
the  citizens  of  Fredonia  went  to  Mount  Sterling  and  re- 
moved the  records,  carrying  them  home  in  meal  sacks. 
The  few  people  who  lived  near  Mount  Sterling  hated  to  see 
the  records  go.  In  fact  the  county  seat  has  been  moved  in 
most  every  case  by  force. 

The  county  officers  at  that  time  were :  County  commis- 
sioners, Thomas  Davis,  Cornelius  Hall,  and  Robert  Yates; 
Daniel  Weathers,  who  was  the  first  sheriff,  held  the  office 
till  about  1823  when  Martin  H.  Tucker  was  appointed. 
William  Campbell  was  coroner,  and  William  Samuels  was 
recorder.  The  records  were  placed  in  the  new  court  house 
at  Fredonia  in  March,  1822. 

Under  the  old  Constitution  the  business  of  the  county 
was  done  by  a  board  of  justices.  Each  township  was  sup- 
posed to  have  one.  They  were  elected  by  the  people.  The 
board  was  known  as  the  board  doing  county  business. 
There  was  a  board  of  county  commissioners,  but  they  did 
not  perform  business.  The  board  doing  county  business 
was  composed  of:  William  Course,  John  Good,  Thomas 
Davis,  Samuel  Burrows,  Henry  Wakefield  and  Allen  T. 
Thorn. 

When  the  board  of  justices  met  at  Fredonia  in  Novem- 
ber, 1824,  it  contracted  much  business  for  the  county.  It 
appointed  Seth  M.  Leavenworth  to  lay  out  a  road  from 
Leavenworth  to  intersect  the  Mount  Sterling  road  near 
Jake  Enlow's  farm.  Archibald  Allen  was  appointed  to 
view  out  a  road  from  his  farm  to  Richard  Weathers'  farm. 


FREDONIA  37 

William  Dodd,  who  was  seminary  agent,  reported  that 
he  had  $255.25. 

At  the  January  meeting  the  board  set  the  tax  rate  as 
follows : 

First  rate  land,  tax  per  100  acres $  1.25 

Second  rate  land,  tax  per  100  acres 1.00 

Third  rate  land,  tax  per  100  acres 75 

License  to  sell  foreign  goods 10.00 

Horses,  mules,  or  donkeys,  each 3.50 

Yoke  of  oxen  over  three  years  old 25 

Brass  clocks,  each  1.50 

Silver  watches,  each 50 

Ferries  on  the  Ohio  River,  each 5.00 

Ferries  on  Big  Blue  River,  each  2.00 

These  prices  were  set  for  the  tavern  keepers : 

One-half  pint  of  whiskey 12 

One  pint  of  whiskey 12 

One-half  pint  of  wine 25 

One  pint  of  wine 43 

One-half  pint  of  peach  brandy 12 

One  pint  of  peach  brandy 18 

French  brandies  went  at  same  rate  as  wine. 

Meals  were   25 

Lodging  for  men 25 

Horses'  feed  for  24  hours 25 

License  for  taverns  or~  hotels 25 

This  is  the  first  evidence  one  has  of  fixing  prices. 


38  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  board  also  appointed  the  following  men  as  super- 
intendents of  the  sixteenth  section  of  the  school  land  : 
Allen  D.  Thorn,  James  Glenn,  Peter  McMichael,  James 
Mcintosh,  Martin  Scott,  Archibald  Sloan  and  William 
Anderson. 

At  the  same  meeting  Robert  S.  Thorn  was  appointed 
treasurer  of  the  county  for  the  year  of  1825. 

The  following  men  were  appointed  road  supervisors: 
Zebulum  Leavenworth  had  charge  of  the  Leavenworth  and 
Salem  road  as  far  as  the  Jennings  township  line :  Colburn 
on  the  Fredonia  and  Little  Blue  road ;  William  Harvey  on 
the  Leavenworth  and  Paoli  road;  Allen  D.  Thorn  on  the 
Leavenworth  and  Princeton  road;  William  May  from 
Cole's  ford  to  Leavenworth,  and  Valentine  Sauerbeber 
from  Leavenworth  to  Fredonia. 

Martin  H.  Tucker  having  resigned,  James  Totten  was 
appointed  sheriff  by  the  board. 

The  board  doing  county  business  appointed  these  men 
as  listers  or  assessors :  John  Wood,  Patoka  township,  sal- 
ary, $5.00;  James  Spencer,  Whisky  Run,  salary,  $6.00; 
David  H.  Tucker,  Sterling,  salary,  $7.00;  Henry  Conrad, 
Ohio,  salary,  $6.00;  Ben  Lyons,  Jennings,  salary,  $6.00. 

With  the  coming  of  the  county  seat,  business  began  to 
grow  in  Fredonia.  Thomas  W.  Fox  was  granted  a  license 
to  run  a  tavern  or  hotel  in  Fredonia.  The  fee  was  $20  per 
year.  The  prices  were  fixed  by  the  board  for  the  meals  and 
lodging. 

The  first  grocery  was  opened  in  Fredonia  in  1830  by 
William  Curry.  Much  later  the  name  was  changed  to  a 
saloon,  so  the  word  ' '  grocery ' '  will  mean  a  saloon  wherever 
found  in  this  book. 


FREDONIA  39 

The  same  year  (1825)  John  Leggett  opened  a  hotel. 
Business  was  booming.  Many  men  were  traveling  here  and 
there  hunting  for  new  locations. 

David  Rice  was  granted  a  license  to  keep  store  and  sell 
foreign  merchandise  in  1825.  Just  what  he  had  in  his 
store  would  be  interesting  to  see.  There  were  no  stoves 
in  the  county  at  that  time,  so  he  must  have  had  fire-arms, 
clothing  and  salt.  In  1829  one  finds  that  the  board  doing 
county  business  granted  Nancy  Collison  a  license  to  sell 
liquor  or  keep  a  grocery.  Probably  she  was  the  only  lady 
in  the  county  to  run  a  grocery. 

Among  the  many  good  citizens  of  the  town  was  Henry 
Conrad,  who  moved  from  Virginia  to  Fredonia  about  1822. 
He  built  a  two-story  log  house  and  became  a  hotel  keeper. 
This  old  house,  which  has  been  weather-boarded  over,  is 
still  standing.  When  Captain  Hines  made  that  daring 
raid  into  Crawford  County  in  1863  Esau  McFall  kept  a 
hotel  there.  Some  of  his  men  stopped  for  breakfast.  Mr. 
Conrad  was  jailer  and  pound  master  for  many  years.  He 
built  the  estray  pen  for  the  county,  served  as  lister  of  Ohio 
township  and  overseer  of  the  poor.  He  died  in  1842.  His 
son  was  William  Conrad  who  moved  to  Kansas  many  years 
ago.  The  Conrads  were  the  best  people  of  the  town,  stand- 
ing for  law  and  order.  As  road  supervisor  Henry  Conrad 
was  a  very  efficient  man.  Uncle  Henry  Conrad's  son  was 
a  leading  citizen  of  Fredonia  for  several  years.  After  the 
Civil  War  he  moved  to  Kansas  and  spent  the  last  years  of 
his  life  in  Winfield,  at  which  place  he  died  and  was  buried. 

While  the  county  seat  was  located  at  Fredonia  several 
attempts  were  made  to  attach  parts  of  Perry  and  Harrison 
Counties   to    Crawford    County.      John   Ewing   of   Perry 


40  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

County  presented  a  petition  which  was  referred  to  Mr. 
Tipton.  He  reported  that  the  reasons  were  unreasonable 
and  the  petition  ought  not  be  granted.  The  House  con- 
curred in  the  report.  Later  on  in  the  history  much  more 
will  be  said  concerning  this. 

The  first  lots  sold  in  Fredonia  and  the  deeds  recorded 
in  the  records  of  Crawford  County  were  lot  27  which  was 
sold  to  Solomon  Byrn  by  Edward  Dailey  on  November  3, 
1819 ;  lot  28  was  sold  to  Israel  Butt  by  Reuben  Thorn  for 
$100  on  December  15,  1824 ;  lot  14  was  sold  to  Lyman  Bell- 
man by  Alex  Carnes  for  $31.  The  names  of  William  H. 
Fullenwider,  Delama  Riddle,  Israel  Bulloch,  George  W. 
Conrad,  Alex  Bullington  and  Henry  Martin  were  among 
the  early  settlers. 

John  Ewing  of  Perry  County,  after  much  work  and 
trouble,  presented  another  petition  praying  that  the  follow- 
ing tract  of  land  beginning  at  the  Meridian  line  south 
where  Perry  County  begins,  thence  running  north  four 
miles,  thence  west  six  miles,  thence  south  four  miles,  and 
thence  east  six  miles,  be  added  to  Crawford  County.  The 
board  of  justices  doing  county  business  ordered  that  tract 
of  land  joined  to  Ohio  township  until  the  matter  might  be 
better  adjusted.  Later  on  a  new  township  named  Union 
was  created  in  1827.  Then  this  territory  formed  part  of 
that  new  township.  The  new  township  consisted  of  the 
congressional  township  three  south,  range  one  west  and  six 
sections  of  township  two  south,  range  one  west. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  Fredonia  one  ought  to  say 
that  Allen  D.  Thorn  and  Robert  S.  Thorn  were  two  of  the 
most  important  men  who  helped  build  up  the  town  of  Fre- 
donia.    After  the  death  of  General  Robert  Thorn,  Allen 


FREDONIA  41 

Davenport  Thorn  married  his  widow.  At  one  time  the 
Thorns  were  the  richest  people  in  the  county,  but  during 
the  panic  of  1837  they  lost  most  of  their  wealth.  Allen 
Thorn  built  a  large  two-story  frame  house  on  the  edge  of 
the  river  bluff.  The  old  house  was  torn  down  in  1918. 
Part  of  the  old  foundation  could  still  be  seen  in  1920.  The 
old  well  which  he  dug  was  eighty-six  feet  deep  and  about 
six  feet  in  diameter.  This  well  was  walled  from  bottom  to 
top  with  rock,  most  of  which  was  dressed.  The  well  stands 
almost  full  of  water  the  year  round.  Thorn  was  a  very 
queer  man  in  many  respects.  He  never  drank  any  water 
and  he  wore  an  overcoat  almost  the  entire  year.  The  writer 
has  been  informed  that  he  would  make  a  hand  in  the  har- 
vest field  wearing  that  overcoat.  He  always  wore  a  high 
silk  hat.  Later  in  life  he  was  appointed  postmaster  at 
Fredonia.  He  generally  carried  what  few  letters  came  in 
the  crown  of  his  hat.  When  men  asked  about  mail,  Mr. 
Thorn  took  off  his  hat  and  ran  over  the  letters  to  see  if 
there  was  any  mail  for  them.  He  gave  them  what  letters 
were  theirs  and  placed  the  rest  in  his  hat  and  went  on  with 
his  work.  Mr.  Thorn  served  the  people  in  various  ways. 
He  was  superintendent  of  the  16th  section  of  township 
four,  range  one  east,  on  January  3,  1825.  He  opened  up  a 
road  twenty  feet  wide  from  Fredonia  to  the  mouth  of  Little 
Blue  River  that  same  year.  When  the  agitation  for  rail- 
roads was  at  its  height  our  General  Assembly  proposed  to 
have  a  road  built  from  Indianapolis  to  the  Ohio  River. 
Madison  and  Fredonia  made  bids  for  the  road.  Many 
other  towns,  no  doubt,  were  anxious  to  have  the  road  run 
to  them.  Fredonia  sent  Allen  D.  Thorn  to  Indianapolis. 
He    met    the    committee    and   made    one    of    the    greatest 


42  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

speeches  of  his  life,  pleading  that  the  road  be  built  to 
Fredonia.  But  the  committee  chose  Madison  by  a  vote  of 
one  majority.  While  Mr.  Thorn  and  Seth  Marshall 
Leavenworth  were  trying  to  build  up  the  county,  many 
people  opposed  them.  Leavenworth  was  defeated  at  the 
polls  for  re-election  to  the  General  Assembly  and  Thorn 
was  accused  of  overcharging  for  certain  supplies  he  fur- 
nished the  county.  Later  it  was  found  out  that  Thorn 
was  correct  and  he  was  reimbursed  for  the  money  he  was 
compelled  to  refund  illegally.  But  the  people  never  sent 
S.  M.  Leavenworth  to  the  General  Assembly  again.  The 
people  were  afraid  of  railroads  in  those  good  old  days. 
They  said  that  the  "cars"  would  run  over  the  stock  in  the 
woods  and  kill  their  children  in  the  streets.  Thorn  died  in 
Fredonia  in  January,  1862,  and  was  buried  there.  To-day 
no  monument  marks  the  site  of  his  grave.  It  was  with 
difficulty  that  the  writer  was  able  to  locate  his  grave  and 
only  by  the  help  of  friends  was  he  enabled  to  do  so.  This 
is  but  one  example  of  how  people  appreciate  a  man  who 
labors  for  the  people's  welfare.  "How  are  the  mighty 
fallen!" 

In  1827  an  exciting  election  was  held  in  Crawford 
County.  The  point  at  issue  was  whether  Seth  M.  Leaven- 
worth was  duly  elected  to  represent  Crawford  County  in 
the  General  Assembly  at  Indianapolis.  He  was  in  favor  of 
moving  the  county  seat  from  Fredonia  to  Leavenworth. 
Gorry  Jones  of  Ohio  township  contested  the  election  and 
the  board  doing  county  business  heard  the  complaint.  It 
appeared  that  James  Coeputs,  Will  Hooten,  David  Swar- 
ens,  Ephriam  Mansfield  and  John  Maxwell  had  cast  illegal 
votes  in  the  election  at  Leavenworth.     After  much  debate 


FREDONIA  43 

the  board  voted  to  seat  Leavenworth.  The  "ayes"  were: 
Nesen,  McMichael,  Wood,  Flinn,  Tadloek,  Blackwell,  Wood- 
ford and  Leavenworth.  The  "nays"  were:  Nesen,  Rice, 
Thorn  and  Suggs.  It  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  Thorn  did 
not  want  Leavenworth  to  go  to  the  General  Assembly. 

Fredonia,  after  the  county  seat  was  located  there,  soon 
grew  into  a  town.  Locust  trees  were  set  along  the  streets. 
After  one  hundred  years  the  trees  are  still  standing,  many 
of  which  are  very  large  now,  although  not  many  houses 
remain  to-day. 

One  of  the  prominent  business  men  of  the  town  was  a 
man  named  Best.  He  lived  in  Louisville  where  he  owned 
a  large  hotel.  He  put  a  large  mortgage  upon  his  hotel  to 
secure  money  to  buy  a  sawmill.  He  sawed  the  large  white 
oaks  into  plow  beams.  A  period  of  depression  came  and 
Best  could  not  sell  his  plow  beams.  Matters  looked  bad  for 
Mr.  Best.  The  mortgage  was  coming  due  and  he  had  no 
money  to  pay.  William  Conrad,  who  was  the  owner  of  a 
large  store  in  Fredonia,  was  watching  Mr.  Best.  One  day 
he  called  Best  into  the  store  and  told  him  that  he  would 
lend  him  the  money.  So  Conrad  and  Best  went  to  Louis- 
ville and  paid  off  the  mortgage.  Best  came  back,  and  after 
business  revived,  sold  his  plow  beams  and  paid  Mr.  Conrad 
in  full. 

Mr.  Best  brought  with  him  to  Fredonia  a  man  named 
Frye  to  be  his  head  sawyer.  Mr.  Frye,  who  was  born  in 
Scotland,  was  put  at  the  head  of  the  business.  For  a  long 
time  he  did  well  with  the  business,  but  the  love  for  the 
bottle  overcame  his  better  judgment  and  Frye  died  a  pau- 
per in  Fredonia.  On  his  death  bed  he  requested  that  a 
quart  of  brandy  and  his  favorite  chopping  axe  be  buried 


44  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

with  him  in  the  coffin.  The  request  was  carried  out.  So 
the  quart  of  brandy  lies  buried  in  the  grave  in  Fredonia. 

Another  old  settler  of  the  town  was  Walter  Gowan. 
He  was  also  a  Scotchman,  born  in  1767.  He  moved  to  Fre- 
donia in  1821.  When  the  terrible  plague  of  cholera  broke 
out  in  New  Orleans  about  1832,  Mr.  Gowan  contracted  the 
disease  from  passengers  on  the  steamboats  which  landed  at 
Fredonia.  He  died  and  was  buried  in  the  cemetery.  A 
large  tombstone  marks  his  grave. 

Another  important  industry  at  Fredonia  in  those  good 
old  days  was  tanning.  Mr.  Collingwood  built  a  large  tan- 
nery just  out  of  town.  He  usually  employed  about  three 
men.  Hides  were  hauled  from  far  and  near  to  the  tannery. 
At  the  present  day  no  sign  of  the  tannery  remains  but  the 
little  hollow  which  was  called  tan  bark  hollow  until  the 
present  day. 

During  all  these  days  while  the  county  seat  was  at  Fre- 
donia, only  one  man  was  killed  in  that  town.  His  name 
was  Hoback.  One  night  he  attended  a  dance  at  Mrs.  Cum- 
mins' home.  Here  trouble  arose  between  him  and  another 
man.  A  fight  ensued  in  which  Hoback  was  killed  with  a 
wooden  hammer.  The  court  acquitted  the  defendant  on 
the  grounds  of  self-defense. 

Many  interesting  stories  are  told  about  William  Con- 
rad who  was  justice  of  the  peace.  He  kept  a  large  store  in 
Fredonia.  One  may  see  his  old  account  books  any  time  by 
calling  on  his  grandson,  Percy  Allen,  of  Fredonia.  Sat- 
urday was  the  most  trying  day  of  all  then.  On  that  day  the 
country  people  from  far  and  near  came  to  Fredonia  to 
trade.  West  of  the  town  about  three  miles  lived  two  large 
men  named  Wiseman.     They  weighed  over  three  hundred 


FREDONIA  45 

pounds  each.  There  were  three  large  Moads  in  the  county, 
too.  They  were  about  as  strong  as  the  Wisemans.  A  feud 
grew  up  between  these  men.  When  they  came  to  town  on 
Saturdays  and  did  their  trading  and  put  their  groceries 
into  the  wagons,  they  bought  a  quart  of  brandy  and  went 
out  into  the  yard  to  drink  under  the  shade  trees.  In  those 
early  days  men  boasted  much  of  their  deeds  of  prowess. 
Of  course,  these  large  men  competed  against  each  other. 
With  the  brandy  to  help  them,  a  friendly  wrestle  usually 
culminated  in  a  bloody  fight.  Then  William  Conrad 
would  go  out  and  arrest  them,  try  the  case,  fine  them  fifty 
cents,  and  when  they  had  paid  the  fine  would  make  them 
shake  hands  and  be  friends.  When  this  was  done  he  gave 
each  one  a  pint  of  brandy  and  made  them  get  into  their 
wagons  and  go  home.    Of  course  they  went  home  happy. 

Mr.  Conrad's  account  books  are  very  interesting.  One 
finds  such  entries  as  these:  "Alf  Romine,  one  gallon  of 
brandy,  75  cents." 

DEBIT 

January  8,  two  sad  irons $  1.00 

January  21,  one  box  of  hairpins 20 

January  22,  three  pounds  of  coffee 50 

January  23,  two  pounds  of  butter 40 

$  2.10 
CREDIT 

January  17,  note  to  Conrad $19.00 

Assets     19.00 

Debits     2.10 

Balance    $16.90 


46  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  above  debit  and  credit  refers  to  Mrs.  Allen  Thorn's 
account  which  dates  back  to  the  fifties.  After  Allen  Thorn 's 
death  in  1862,  she  lived  until  1875.  Her  granddaughter, 
Mrs.  Hattie  Henry,  was  made  administratrix  of  her  estate 
which  was  settled  about  1918. 

In  1833  Fredonia  had  about  110  people,  three  stores, 
one  tavern  or  hotel,  a  teacher,  two  doctors,  one  carding 
machine,  one  spinning  machine,  one  steam  sawmill  and 
grist  mill,  one  ship  yard,  and  a  scientific  school.  The  post- 
office  was  established  in  1840.  Horace  Stevens  was  the 
postmaster.  By  1860  there  were  150  people  living  in  Fre- 
donia.    This  was  as  large  as  the  town  ever  grew.* 

The  mail  routes  to  Fredonia  came  from  Princeton.  The 
mail  left  Princeton  on  Friday  morning  at  six  o'clock  and 
arrived  at  Fredonia  Saturday  night  at  six  o'clock.  The 
distance  was  about  seventy-five  miles.  Another  route  came 
in  from  Bedford.  The  mail  left  Fredonia  Wednesday  at 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  arrived  in  Princeton  at  six 
o'clock  on  Thursday  evening. 

When  the  new  law  was  enacted  to  build  the  road  from 
New  Albany  to  Princeton  by  Leavenworth  and  Fredonia, 
John  L.  Smith  of  Leavenworth  was  appointed  general 
superintendent  of  the  road.  He  did  not  wish  to  run  the  road 
through  Fredonia,  but  instead  he  wished  to  open  that  state 
road  due  west  from  Leavenworth  to  Beechwood,  West  Fork 
and  Princeton.  Fredonia  was  much  displeased  about  the 
matter.  Next  year  a  new  law  was  enacted  compelling  John 
L.  Smith  to  run  the  road  through  Fredonia,  as  provided 
for  in  the  original  act  of  the  General  Assembly.* 


*Indiana  Gazateer  for  1833. 
*Laws  of  Indiana,  1831-32,  p.  27. 


FREDONIA  47 

A  scientific  school  was  started  in  Fredonia  about  1833. 
A  bill  passed  the  General  Assembly  to  incorporate  the  Fre- 
donia School  Society  and  was  approved  February  2,  1832. 
A  notice  of  the  meeting  of  the  Agricultural  Scientific 
Society  appeared  in  The  Leavenworth  Area  in  1839.  The 
meeting  was  for  the  citizens  of  Ohio  township.  The  min- 
utes are  not  found. 

By  1837  the  old  jail  was  not  very  safe.  One  finds  in 
January,  1839,  that  Moses  Smith  was  taken  to  Corydon 
for  safe  keeping.  Thomas  Cummins  was  appointed  to  re- 
pair the  jail  as  early  as  June,  1836.  In  1840  prisoners 
were  taken  to  Corydon.  This  was  rather  expensive  to  the 
county.  In  December,  1842,  the  board  ordered  the  county 
agent  to  see  if  the  logs  could  not  be  put  back  in  the  jail. 


CHAPTER  III 


LEAVENWORTH 


The  town  of  Leavenworth  was  named  after  two  men 
who  platted  the  town  and  lived  there  many  years.  Before 
proceeding  with  the  narrative  abont  the  town  one  should 
give  a  brief  account  of  the  lives  of  those  men  who  did  so 
much  to  build  up  the  town  and  the  county. 

Seth  Marshall  Leavenworth  was  the  fifth  in  line  from 
Thomas  Leavenworth  who  moved  from  England  to  America 
in  1664  and  settled  at  Roekbury,  Connecticut.  At  this 
place  Seth  Marshall  was  born  June  13,  1782.  His  early 
education  was  obtained  in  the  grammar  schools  of  Con- 
necticut. Having  caught  the  Western  fever,  he  went  West 
in  1809  and  located  in  Cincinnati  for  some  time.  While 
here  he  studied  law  and  taught  school.  After  several  years 
he  moved  farther  west  and  finally  located  in  what  is  now 
Crawford  County.     He  bought  a  tract  of  land. 

While  living  here  he  became  engaged  to  Esther  Mathers 
of  Cape  May,  New  Jersey,  whom  he  married  at  New  Al- 
bany, June  15,  1820. 

He  engaged  in  business  in  Crawford  County  and  was 
very  successful.  He  helped  build  the  first  mill  at  Leaven- 
worth where  wheat  and  corn  could  be  ground  and  lumber 
sawed.     In  1827  he  built  a  mill  at  what  is  now  Milltown 

48 


LEAVENWORTH  49 

which  for  a  long  time  went  by  the  name  of  Leavenworth's 
Mill.  While  he  owned  the  two  mills  at  Milltown  and 
Leavenworth,  he  was  very  much  interested  in  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  Big  Blue  River.  He  wanted  the  General  Assem- 
bly to  enact  a  law  to  improve  the  Big  Blue  River,  but  every 
bill  for  that  purpose  failed  to  pass. 

He  helped  to  locate  and  open  up  new  roads,  many  of 
which  ran  from  Leavenworth  out  into  the  state.  By  re- 
ferring to  the  map  on  roads  one  can  get  a  good  idea  of 
how  they  ran  from  Leavenworth. 

The  people  soon  recognized  that  Mr.  Leavenworth  was 
a  leader  among  men.  So  he  was  elected  to  represent  Craw- 
ford County  in  the  General  Assembly  at  Indianapolis  in 
1827.  His  work  in  the  General  Assembly  was  very  im- 
portant. One  of  his  motives  was  to  remove  the  county  seat 
from  Fredonia  to  Leavenworth.  Of  course,  this  always 
caused  an  uproar  among  the  citizens  of  Fredonia  who  did 
not  want  to  see  the  seat  of  justice  removed.  He  intro- 
duced several  petitions,  praying  that  the  seat  of  justice  be 
changed.  These  petitions  produced  such  an  uproar  at 
times  that  Mr.  Read,  of  Davies  and  Martin  Counties  re- 
fused to  serve  on  the  committee  with  him,  but  led  the  fight 
against  him.  On  a  test  vote  the  House  refused  to  kill  the 
resolution.  Later,  Mr.  Leavenworth  withdrew  the  resolu- 
tion and  the  petitions,  for  he  saw  that  he  could  not  get  the 
law  changed.  From  that  time  on  there  was  a  number  of  the 
people  in  Ohio  township  who  did  not  like  Mr.  Leavenworth 
and  always  tried  to  defeat  him  at  the  polls. 

When  he  could  not  get  the  seat  of  justice  moved,  then 
he  began  a  fight  for  the  new  railroad  to  run  from  Indian- 
apolis to  Leavenworth  instead  of  Madison.    He  believed  the 


50  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

railroads  were  better  than  canals.  He  made  a  great 
speech  in  the  Assembly  on  railroads.  A  copy  of  the  speech 
may  be  seen  in  the  Journal  for  March  20,  1827.  Strange  as 
the  matter  may  seem  now,  many  people  then  opposed  rail- 
roads. Men  said  the  cars  would  run  over  the  children  in 
the  street  and  kill  their  stock  in  the  woods.  At  that  time 
all  stock  ran  out  to  the  commons.  There  was  such  a  wave 
of  sentiment  against  Mr.  Leavenworth  that  he  was  de- 
feated at  the  polls  in  the  next  election.  Fredonia  had  sent 
Allen  D.  Thorn,  a  very  learned  citizen  of  the  town,  to  In- 
dianapolis. He  worked  hard  for  Fredonia.  In  the  com- 
mittee room  Thorn  made  one  of  the  greatest  speeches  of  his 
life.  When  the  committee  voted  Madison  won  the  railroad 
by  one  vote.  So  Thorn  and  Leavenworth  came  home  dis- 
appointed. 

Another  far-sighted  measure  which  Mr.  Leavenworth 
advocated  was  a  hospital  for  the  sick  river  men.  Often 
these  men  and  women  were  exposed  to  cholera  and  other 
dreadful  diseases  while  they  were  traveling  on  the  boats. 
Sometimes  there  would  be  an  epidemic  of  cholera  in  New 
Orleans.  A  passenger  returning  from  the  south  might 
contract  the  malady  and  expose  all  the  men  on  board. 
After  various  encounters  the  measure  was  defeated  in  the 
House. 

When  his  term  of  office  expired  in  1828  he  returned  to 
Leavenworth  and  opened  up  a  tavern.  He  had  operated  a 
ferry  over  the  Ohio  and  Big  Blue  Rivers  besides  the  mills 
mentioned  above.  He  was  much  interested  in  education 
and  at  one  time  was  trustee  of  Indiana  University,  from 
which  Seth  Marshall  Leavenworth,  Jr.,  received  his  M.  A. 
degree  in  1839. 


LEAVENWORTH  51 

Mr.  Leavenworth  was  engaged  in  every  enterprise 
which  would  improve  his  county.  The  commissioners'  rec- 
ords from  1824  to  1834  have  many  references  to  his  name. 
He  lived  in  Leavenworth  till  about  1850,  when  he  moved 
to  Missouri,  where  he  died  in  1853. 

Zebulum  Leavenworth  was  also  a  descendant  of  Thomas 
Leavenworth  and  a  cousin  of  Seth  Marshall.  He  was  born 
at  Granville,  Massachusetts,  January  4,  1792.  He  attended 
the  public  schools  of  the  town  until  he  completed  the  course 
of  study.  When  the  great  tide  of  immigration  began  in 
1811,  he  moved  west  to  Cincinnati  where  he  taught  school 
one  year.  Then  he  entered  the  profession  of  law  and 
studied  in  the  law  office  of  Judge  Scott  at  Chillicothe  one 
year. 

The  Government  at  that  time  needed  a  large  number 
of  surveyors  to  survey  the  land  in  Indiana  and  Ohio.  He 
went  to  Illinois  with  a  party  of  surveyors  and  spent  most 
of  the  year  surveying.  The  Indians  finally  became  so  hos- 
tile that  the  men  were  obliged  to  retreat  to  Shawneetown. 
From  Shawneetown  he  came  in  a  keel  boat  to  Cincinnati. 
Later  he  moved  to  Jeffersonville  about  1816  and  two  years 
later  he  located  at  Leavenworth. 

On  January  11,  1821,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Margaret  Patterson.    She  came  from  Delaware  about  1819. 

Zebulum  Leavenworth  was  connected  with  his  cousin, 
Seth  Marshall,  in  all  their  enterprises. 

He  served  in  the  General  Assembly  of  Indiana  during 
the  sessions  of  1830,  1832  and  1833.  He  worked  hard  for 
the  benefit  of  the  county.  He  was  on  the  Committee  of 
Education,  on  the  management  of  the  city  of  Indianapolis, 
and  on  the  ways  and  means  committee.    He  opposed  the  law 


52  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

to  change  the  way  of  doing  business  in  Crawford  County, 
but  the  law  was  enacted.  At  that  time  a  board  of  justices 
from  each  township  did  the  county's  business.  The  new 
law  provided  for  a  board  of  county  commissioners  of  three 
members.  When  he  returned  home  in  1831,  the  people 
elected  him  county  commissioner  of  the  second  district. 

Mr.  Leavenworth  was  one  of  the  stockholders  in  the 
Clay  Turnpike  Company  and  helped  run  the  stage  line 
to  Bloomington  and  Indianapolis.  As  late  as  1860  one  of 
the  old  coaches  might  be  seen  standing  on  the  vacant  lots 
in  Leavenworth. 

In  1858  he  was  elected  township  trustee.  Benton  D. 
Tucker  and  Joseph  Thornton  went  on  his  bond  for  $2,000. 
As  a  school  trustee  he  did  much  good  work. 

In  1858  Mr.  Leavenworth  went  over  Scott  township  in 
Harrison  County  and  secured  the  signatures  of  seventy- 
two  real  estate  owners,  praying  that  a  certain  part  of  the 
township  be  annexed  to  Crawford  County.  The  matter 
was  carried  to  the  courts  by  the  citizens  of  Harrison 
County.  When  the  case  was  called  for  trial  Walter  Q. 
Gresham  represented  Leavenworth  and  Judge  Wolf  was 
the  attorney  for  the  other  side.  The  county  judge  was 
just  about  to  give  his  decision  in  favor  of  Leavenworth 
when  Attorney  Wolf  whispered  something  in  the  judge's 
ear  and  told  him  that  he  wanted  to  see  him  privately 
before  he  decided  the  matter.  So  the  judge  postponed  the 
decision  till  the  next  day.  In  the  meanwhile  Attorney 
Wolf  said  that  if  Scott  township  was  given  to  Crawford 
County  it  would  endanger  the  political  situation.  Scott 
township  was  heavily  Democratic.    So  if  that  majority  was 


LEAVENWORTH  53 

given  to  Crawford  County  it  would  lessen  the  majority  in 
the  county  so  much  that  the  Republicans  would  probably 
carry  the  county.  When  the  court  convened  the  next  day, 
the  judge  decided  that  it  would  be  unconstitutional  to  let 
Scott  township  join  to  Crawford  County.  Mr.  Leaven- 
worth could  have  appealed  the  case  to  the  Supreme  Court 
for  $50,  but  he  could  not  get  a  man  in  the  town  of  Leaven- 
worth to  help  raise  the  $50.  Later  in  the  year  a  similar 
case  was  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court  where  the  court 
decided  that  the  land  could  be  annexed.  In  the  great 
county  seat  fight  from  1894  to  1896  Leavenworth  would 
not  have  lost  the  seat  of  justice  if  that  territory  had  been 
part  of  Crawford  County. 

Mr.  Leavenworth  lived  to  celebrate  his  golden  wedding 
at  Leavenwrorth  in  1871.  The  Leavenworth  Independent 
has  the  folio wTing  account  of  the  celebration  :  ' '  Golden 
Wedding.  A  Half  Century  of  Wedded  Life.  A  Rare 
Occasion  and  a  Splendid  Good  Time.  The  first  golden 
wedding  ever  celebrated  in  Crawford  County  took  place  at 
the  residence  of  Oliver  Leavenworth  near  the  town  last 
Wednesday.  The  parties  celebrating  their  golden  wedding 
were  Zebulum  Leavenworth  and  his  wife,  Margaret  Leaven- 
worth; ages  79  and  69  respectively. 

"At  the  dinner  party  given  on  Wednesday  at  noon  to 
a  number  of  friends  and  members  of  the  family  Mr.  Leaven- 
worth arose  and  in  a  voice  choked  with  emotion  gave  a 
history  of  their  married  life  in  poem  form.  The  poem 
was  full  of  sublime  thoughts  and  pathos.  When  the  aged 
gentleman  resumed  his  seat  every  eye  was  filled  with  tears. 
Below  is  the  poem  in  full : 


54  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Fifty  years  through  shine  and  shadow, 
Fifty  years,  my  gentle  wife, 

You  and  I  have  walked  together 
Down  the  rugged  hill  of  life. 

From  the  hill  of  spring  we  started, 
And  through  all  the  summer  land 

And  the  fruited  autumn  country 
We  have  journeyed  hand  in  hand. 

We  have  borne  the  heat  and  burden 
Willingly,  painfully  and  slow. 

We  have  gathered  in  our  harvest 
With  rejoicing  long  ago. 

Leave  the  uplands  to  our  children; 

They  are  strong  to  sow  and  reap. 
Through  the  quiet  wintry  lowlands 

We  our  level  way  will  keep. 

'Tis  a  dreary  country,  darling, 
You  and  I  are  passing  through, 

But  the  road  lies  straight  before  us 
And  the  miles  are  short  and  few. 

No  more  dangers  to  encounter, 

No  more  hills  to  climb,  true  friend; 

Nothing  now  but  simple  walking 
Till  we  reach  the  journey's  end. 

We  have  had  our  times  of  gladness; 

It  was  a  proud  and  happy  day. 
Ah,  the  proudest  of  our  journey 

When  we  felt  that  we  could  say : 

Of  the  children  God  has  given  us, 
Proudly  looking  on  the  six. 

Lovely  women  are  our  daughters 
And  our  sons  are  manly  men. 


LEAVENWORTH  55 

We  have  had  our  time  of  sorrow 

And  our  time  of  anxious  care 
When  we  could  not  see  the  milestones 

Through  the  blindness  of  our  tears. 

In  the  sunny  summer  country, 
Far  behind  us  little  Zebi,  Thaddie, 

And  Marshall,  too,  grew  weary 
And  we  left  them  on  the  way. 

Are  you  looking  backward,  Mother? 

That  you  stumble  in  the  snow? 
I  am  still  your  guide  and  staff; 

Lean  upon  me  even  so. 

And  what  is  that  which  you  say? 

Yes,  I  know  your  eyes  are  dim, 
But  we  have  not  lost  our  journey 

And  our  trust  is  placed  in  Him. 

Cheer  thee,  cheer  thee,  faithful  heart, 

Just  a  little  way  before 
Lies  the  Great  Eternal  City 

Of  the  King  we  both  adore. 

I  can  see  the  shining  spires 

And  the  King,  the  King,  my  dear, 

We  have  served  Him  long  and  faithful; 
He  will  bless  us,  never  fear. 

And  the  snow  falls  fast  and  heavy; 

How  you  shiver  in  the  cold. 
Let  me  wrap  your  mantle  closer 

And  my  arm  about  you  fold. 

We  are  faint  and  weak  and  heavy 

And  the  sun's  low  in  the  West. 
We  have  reached  the  gate,  my  darling, 

Let  us  tarry  here  and  rest. 


56  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

In  the  speech  Mr.  Leavenworth  said  that  he  had  never 
given  his  wife  a  cross  word.  She  had  never  quarreled  with 
him  about  anything.  He  lived  till  1878,  when  he  died  and 
was  buried  in  the  Cedar  Cemetery  overlooking  the  town  he 
loved  so  well.  In  politics  he  was  a  Whig  and  later  became 
a  Republican.  His  son,  Elias  Phelps  Leavenworth,  lived  in 
Leavenworth  till  1920,  when  he  died.  He  gave  the  writer 
much  valuable  information  concerning  the  town. 

The  site  of  Leavenworth  lies  on  the  Ohio  River  about 
three  miles  above  the  town  of  Fredonia.  There  the  rich 
bottom  land  is  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  wide  between  the 
river  and  the  hill.  Here  the  town  was  platted.  A  large 
spring  of  wholesome  drinking  water  ran  out  of  the  bluff 
from  which  a  good  supply  of  drinking  water  at  all  times 
was  available.  The  site  was  much  superior  to  the  site  of 
Fredonia.  The  town  of  Leavenworth  is  363  feet  above  the 
sea  level.  Boats  can  land  at  the  wharf  up  which  freight 
can  be  easily  hauled  to  the  stores.  The  plot  which  was 
made  by  the  Leaven  worths  can  still  be  seen  in  the  record- 
er's office  at  the  court  house  in  English.  The  streets  on 
the  plat  were  50  feet  wide  except  Front  street  which  is  60 
feet  wide.  The  alleys  were  12  feet  wide.  The  original 
plat  was  filed  in  the  recorder's  office  July  14,  1819,  at 
Old  Mount  Sterling,  William  Samuels  being  the  recorder 
of  the  county. 

The  town,  which  was  situated  on  the  deepest  bend  of 
the  Ohio  River,  soon  became  a  landing  port  for  all  the  trade 
which  went  to  Salem,  Paoli,  Bono,  Jasper  and  Bloomington. 
Of  course,  not  all  the  trade  of  these  towns  passed  through 
Leavenworth,  but  one  will  be  safe  in  saying  a  large  quan- 
tity did  pass  through  Leavenworth  till  the  railroads  en- 


LEAVENWORTH  57 

tirely  changed  commercial  relations.  After  the  Monon 
railroad  was  built  from  New  Albany  to  Salem,  Bedford 
and  Bloomington,  many  of  the  old  bus  lines  ceased  to  run 
wagons.  The  old  bus  line  ran  from  Leavenworth  to  Bed- 
ford and  Bloomington.  This  bus,  which  carried  the  mail, 
left  Bedford  each  Monday  at  6  :00  a.  m.  and  came  by  the 
way  of  Mount  Sterling  and  Fredonia.  The  mail  arrived 
at  Fredonia  about  noon  on  Tuesday.  After  the  Salem  and 
Paoli  roads  were  built  the  bus  ran  directly  to  these  towns. 
By  a  careful  observation  of  the  roads  running  out  from 
Leavenworth  one  can  see  and  form  some  idea  of  the  work 
done  and  the  traffic  on  the  roads. 

The  freight  could  be  landed  on  the  banks  of  the  river  at 
Leavenworth  very  easily.  A  road  was  built  up  the  side  of 
the  bluff  around  the  Big  Spring.  This  road  ran  to  Jasper. 
One  who  had  not  seen  the  hill  cannot  tell  how  much  work 
was  done  in  building  such  a  road.  In  many  places  the  road 
was  very  dangerous.  One  man  was  coming  down  the  hill 
with  a  load  of  barrels.  His  horses  became  frightened  at 
a  pig  and  turned  the  wagon  partly  over  as  they  ran.  The 
barrels  were  scattered  over  the  hillside  in  every  direction. 

The  Salem  and  Leavenworth  road  was  built  up  Poison 
creek  and  through  the  Dug  way.  This  was  the  best  way 
out  from  the  town.  The  grade  is  not  so  steep.  The  river 
hill  is  about  400  feet  above  the  town.  In  some  places  this 
difference  in  elevation  is  almost  perpendicular.  So  it  is 
very  hard  to  build  a  road  up  such  a  steep  hill. 

Many  town  lots  were  sold  in  Leavenworth  after  the 
plat  was  filed  in  the  recorder's  office.  One  finds  these 
lots  recorded :  Seth  M.  Leavenworth  and  Zebulum  Leaven- 
worth sold  lot  18  to  Patrick  Clark  on  October  29,  1818,  for 


58  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

$400;  Joseph  Cooper  bought  lots  12  and  13  from  Julius 
Woodford  for  $1,800  on  May  1,  1825;  William  Course 
bought  lots  21  and  22  for  $1,000  on  Jan.  9,  1835;  other 
early  settlers  were  Joseph  Phelps,  William  Cathcart,  Hor- 
ace Williams,  Caldwell  and  Kendall,  William  Mansfield, 
David  Cole,  Andrew  Tadlock;  Pleasant  Royce,  Malinda 
Smith,  Joseph  Caldwell,  Jacob  Sauerheber,  James  Baker, 
John  M.  Clark,  Peter  Springer,  Albert  Conn,  William 
Jackson,  John  Carnes,  Orville  Smith,  Lyda  Garnder,  Wil- 
liam Scott,  and  Andrew  Caskins  were  owners  of  lots  in 
Leavenworth.  Also  the  following  men  and  women  were 
living  in  Leavenworth  in  the  early  days:  William 
Reynolds,  J.  S.  B.  Kelso,  Elam  Wiley,  James  Kendall, 
J.  A.  McKoon,  Lydia  Kine,  Joel  Lyons,  Daniel  Lyons, 
William  Lake,  William  Butt,  Joshua  Landers,  William  H. 
Long,  Marilda  Lain,  Daniel  Mcintosh,  Nathan  Morgan, 
Reuben  Tucker,  G.  K.  Miller,  William  Parker,  John  B. 
Panky,  Titus  Barker,  Andrew  Beers,  Titus  Barbour,  Allen 
Thorn,  Joseph  Cooper,  Henry  Bailey,  and  Rebecca  McCal- 
lister. 

Elisha  Tadlock  who  represented  Crawford  County  in 
the  General  Assembly  in  1825,  was  the  first  man  to  open  a 
tavern  in  Leavenworth.  He  began  business  in  May,  1827. 
Seth  Leavenworth  opened  a  hotel  in  1828.  H.  H.  Samuels 
opened  a  store  in  the  town  on  January  1,  1833.  Just  how 
many  men  lived  in  Leavenworth  in  1830,  one  cannot  tell. 
In  that  year  there  were  3,234  people  in  the  county.  In 
1820,  there  were  2,583.  By  1830,  there  were  128  farms 
sold.  Hence  one  can  see  that  several  must  have  lived  in 
towns.  Yet  one  cannot  tell  how  many  were  squatters. 
Anyhow  Leavenworth  must  have  had  100  people. 


LEAVENWORTH  59 

In  1834,  the  leading  citizens  of  Leavenworth  secured 
a  number  of  lots  near  where  the  Big  Spring  branch  runs 
into  the  Ohio  River  and  started  a  manufacturing  company. 
One  finds  a  record  of  the  matter  in  the  grantor  and  grantee 
book,  but  not  much  is  known  of  its  history.  The  charter 
was  granted  and  the  Leavenworth  Manufacturing  Company 
was  incorporated  by  law  February  1,  1834.  The  chief 
sections  of  the  law  were : 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  that  John  Peckinpaugh,  Dudley  Gresham,  and 
Elam  Wiley  together  with  such  other  persons  as  may  asso- 
ciate with  them  for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  the  manu- 
facturing, exporting  and  importing  business  within  the 
State  to  be  established  and  located  at  Leavenworth  or  near 
the  town  in  Crawford  County  be  and  the  same  are  hereby 
ordained  and  declared  to  be  a  body  politic  to  all  interests 
and  purposes  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  the  Leavenworth 
Manufacturing  Company,  by  which  name  they  and  their 
successors  in  office  shall  have  continued  succession,  and  be 
entitled  to  use  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  the 
laws  of  the  state  of  Indiana.  The  said  corporation  shall 
exist  for  a  period  of  50  years. 

Section  2 :  The  capital  stock  of  the  company  shall  con- 
sist of  $100,000  and  shall  consist  of  $100  shares.  The  said 
corporation  shall  begin  business  when  $4,000  worth  of 
stock  is  sold.  Dudley  Gresham,  Elam  Wiley,  and  John 
Peckinpaugh  shall  receive  subscriptions  to  the  capital 
stock. 

Section  3 :  When  $1,000  worth  of  capital  stock  has  been 
sold  the  corporation  shall  elect  five  directors  who  shall  have 


60  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

full  management  of  the  stock  and  the  property.  The  di- 
rectory shall  be  elected  by  the  stock  holders. 

Section  4:  A  majority  of  the  directors  shall  form  a 
quorum  and  manage  the  business. 

Section  5 :  The  directors  shall  have  power  to  collect  all 
subscriptions. 

Section  6 :  The  stock  holders  shall  be  responsible  for 
the  amount  of  their  capital  stock. 

Section  7 :  The  board  of  directors  shall  elect  a  secre- 
tary and  a  treasurer  who  shall  report  to  the  board  of  di- 
rectors at  least  once  each  month. 

Section  8 :  This  corporation  shall  not  engage  in  bank- 
ing  business  or  issue  any  form  of  bank  notes. 

Section  9 :  This  act  shall  be  and  is  hereby  declared  to 
be  a  public  act  for  the  purpose  herein  specified  and  shall 
be  in  effect  at  once. 

Section  10 :  The  capital  stock  shall  be  considered  as 
personal  property  and  managed  as  the  board  of  directors 
may  direct. 

The  Cannelton  Cotton  Mills  was  to  be  established  here, 
but  a  dispute  arose  over  various  matters  and  the  manager 
located  the  mills  at  Cannelton.  So  the  factory  never  ma- 
terialized. 

Late  in  the  thirties  the  Manufacturing  Company  was 
engaged  in  milling. 

Among  the  early  business  men  of  Leavenworth  were 
A.  Edwards,  S.  M.  and  Z.  Leavenworth,  David  Dodson, 
William  and  James  Mansfield,  Elam  Wiley,  and  James 
Kendall.  In  May,  1841,  one  finds  a  petition  presented  to 
the  Board  doing  county  business,  begging  that  a  license 


LEAVENWORTH  61 

be  refused  to  anyone  to  sell  liquors  in  quantities  less  than 
a  quart.     The  Board  received  the  petition. 

On  January,  1825,  William  Reynolds  was  licensed  to 
sell  liquors  in  Leavenworth. 

Elisha  Lyons  secured  a  license  to  sell  merchandise  in 
Crawford  County  for  one  year.  This  license  was  for  for- 
eign merchandise. 

November  3,  1826,  Zebulum  Leavenworth  introduced 
a  resolution  declaring  that  the  bonds  and  contracts  fixing 
the  county  seat  at  Fredonia  had  all  expired  and  had  not 
been  complied  with.  The  Board  voted,  "yes."  Later  in 
the  year  the  committee  voted  against  re-locating  the  county 
seat.  Zebulum  Leavenworth  was  trying  to  get  the  seat 
of  justice  located  at  Leavenworth. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  on  September  3,  1827, 
Daniel  Lyons  was  granted  a  license  to  keep  a  tavern  in 
Leavenworth.  A  tavern  was  a  hotel.  The  tavern  tax  in 
Leavenworth  and  Fredonia  that  year  was  $10. 

John  L.  Smith  was  granted  a  license  to  keep  store  for 
one  year  in  Leavenworth  and  Elam  Wiley  to  sell  foreign 
merchandise. 

Seth  Leavenworth  was  granted  a  license  to  keep  hotel 
on  May  5,  1828. 

The  Board  Doing  County  Business  was  in  session  Sep- 
tember 1,  1828.  It  ordered  a  warehouse  to  be  built  on 
the  wharf  for  storing  tobacco  until  one  could  ship  it. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  Doing  County  Business 
in  January,  1830,  one  finds  that  William  Curry  was  given 
a  license  to  run  a  grocery  in  Leavenworth.  The  name 
"grocery"  was  the  old  name  for  a  saloon. 

As  far  as  the  author  can  find  the  Leavenworth  Arena 


62  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

was  the  first  newspaper  published  in  Leavenworth.  The 
date  was  May,  1838. 

T.  M.  Warden  was  a  physician  in  the  town  in  these  early 
days. 

In  January,  1840,  Zebulum  Leavenworth  was  author- 
ized to  lay  out  of  the  monies  collected  from  the  3%  funds 
a  sum  not  to  exceed  $500,  to  pave  the  wharf  from  the  low 
water  mark  to  the  Front  Street  if  the  town  would  pay  half 
of  the  cost.  Leavenworth  did  a  good  piece  of  work.  The 
work  was  done.  Rocks  were  used.  They  were  set  on  edge 
and  various  other  ways.  The  old  stone  walls  were  built 
up  on  each  side  of  the  drive-way  down  to  the  river. 

By  1830,  Leavenworth  was  anxious  to  have  the  seat  of 
justice  located  there.  A  law  had  been  enacted  in  1827, 
which  provided  for  the  re-locating  of  the  county  seat  by  a 
committee  consisting  of  Henry  McGee  of  Orange  County, 
John  McPheeters  and  Robert  Mclntire  of  Washington 
County,  George  Boone  of  Harrison  County,  and  David 
Murr  of  Jackson  County. 

The  law  provided  that  this  committee  should  meet  at 
Fredonia  on  the  first  Monday  in  March,  1828,  and  make  a 
careful  survey  of  the  situation.  Should  the  committee 
think  that  a  change  ought  to  be  made,  then  it  was  em- 
powered to  choose  a  site.  After  a  thorough  investigation 
the  committee  decided  that  the  seat  of  justice  ought  not 
be  moved. 

In  1831,  the  law  of  Indiana  made  a  change  in  the  way 
of  doing  the  business  of  the  county.  Before  this  date  most 
of  the  business  was  done  by  a  board  of  justices  of  the 
peace.  There  was  about  one  for  each  township.  By  the 
new  law  the  county  was  divided  into  three  districts.    Each 


LEAVENWORTH  63 

district  was  to  elect  one  commissioner.  At  the  election 
held  in  August,  1831,  Zebulum  Leavenworth  was  elected 
from  the  second  district  which  was  composed  of  Jennings 
and  Whisky  Run  townships,  Jacob  Rice  was  elected  from 
the  first  district  which  was  composed  of  Ohio  and  Union 
townships.  James  Glenn  was  elected  from  the  third  dis- 
trict composed  of  Sterling  and  Patoka  townships.  The 
seal  consisted  of  a  round  device  containing  these  words : 
' ' Commissioners '  Court  of  Crawford  County,"  and  the 
likeness  of  a  girl  holding  a  pair  of  balances. 

The  people  of  Leavenworth  tried  hard  to  build  up  a 
town  seminary.  On  December  24,  1830,  a  law  was  enacted 
providing  for  the  incorporation  of  a  seminary.  The  prin- 
cipal men  who  composed  the  body  corporate  and  politic 
were  John  L.  Smith,  Elam  Wiley,  Andrew  Beers,  James 
B.  Davidson,  and  Seth  M.  Leavenworth.  They  were  styled 
"President  and  trustees  of  the  Leavenworth  seminary" 
and  in  that  name  could  be  sued  and  could  sue. 

The  law  provided  that  the  trustees  should  be  elected 
annually  on  the  first  Monday  in  April  by  the  subscribers 
of  the  seminary.  These  trustees  should  take  an  oath  be- 
fore entering  upon  their  duty  after  which  they  should 
elect  one  of  their  number  president  who  should  be  com- 
petent to  manage  the  business. 

The  trustees  were  to  employ  competent  men  as  teachers 
and  dismiss  the  same  when  they  thought  best.  The  above 
law  looked  well  on  paper  but  so  many  difficulties  existed 
that  not  much  was  done  in  education.  Fredonia  had  a 
school  society  about  that  time  but  it  did  not  fare  much 
better  than  Leavenworth. 

Leavenworth  was  more  successful  when  the  law  was  en- 


64  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

acted  to  incorporate  a  seminary  for  the  county.  The  board 
of  trustees  located  the  site  of  this  seminary  at  Leavenworth. 
The  law  was  enacted  in  1835,  the  chief  sections  of  which 
were: 

Section  1 :  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  that  the  qualified  voters  living  in  Crawford 
County  are  hereby  authorized  to  elect  at  their  next  annual 
election  one  commissioner  or  a  seminary  trustee  of  the 
county  for  each  township  by  a  vote  of  the  whole  county. 

Section  2 :  The  trustees  so  elected  or  two-thirds  of  them 
shall  meet  in  the  town  of  Leavenworth  on  the  first  Monday 
in  May  next,  and  each  before  entering  upon  his  duties  as 
trustee  execute  a  bond  with  security  payable  to  the  State 
of  Indiana  in  a  penalty  of  $400,  conditioned  for  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  his  duties  which  bond  shall  be  filed  in 
the  clerk 's  office. 

Section  3 :  The  trustees  so  elected  and  their  successors 
in  office  shall  constitute  a  body  politic  by  the  name  and 
style  of  the  President  and  the  trustees  of  the  Crawford 
County  Seminary  and  by  that  name  may  sue  and  be  sued 
and  by  that  name  have  perpetual  successors. 

Section  4:  The  trustees  at  their  first  meeting  or  any 
subsequent  meeting,  which  a  majority  of  them  may  appoint, 
designate,  fix  and  determine,  at  which  place  in  said  county 
the  seminary  shall  be  located  and  a  suitable  building 
erected.  When  a  majority  of  the  trustees  has  selected  a 
suitable  lot  on  which  to  build  the  house  they  may  demand 
the  seminary  funds  of  the  county  which  may  be  on  hand  at 
that  time. 

Section  5 :  The  trustees  or  a  majority  of  them  shall  at 


LEAVENWORTH  65 

a  subsequent  meeting  elect  a  president  and  a  treasurer 
each  of  whom  shall  not  be  trustees. 

Section  6 :  The  treasurer  of  Crawford  County  is  hereby 
authorized  to  pay  over  to  the  trustees  of  the  Seminary 
whatever  funds  he  may  have  on  hands. 

Section  7 :  The  trustees  so  elected  shall  remain  in  office 
during  good  behavior. 

The  trustees  met  at  Leavenworth,  and  after  being  duly 
organized  and  having  considered  the  different  locations, 
selected  Leavenworth  as  the  site  for  the  county  seminary. 
Ebenezer  E.  Morgan,  who  was  county  clerk,  sold  the  trus- 
tees certain  lots  on  which  the  seminary  building  should  be 
constructed.  At  that  time  William  Course  who  was  semi- 
nary trustee,  had  on  hands  $427.66.  The  trustees  began 
work  on  the  building  at  once.  The  house  was  40  feet  by 
25  feet  and  two  stories  high.  It  was  to  be  constructed  of 
stone  and  brick.  Stone  foundation  and  brick  walls.  The 
house  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  $1,042.  In  1848,  the  house 
was  rented  at  these  rates :  Lower  rooms,  $2  per  month ; 
upper  rooms,  $1.50  per  month.  This  historic  old  building 
is  still  standing.  At  the  present  day,  it  is  used  for  a  dwell- 
ing. One  may  see  the  house  which  stands  on  Court  Street 
near  the  Leavenworth  State  Bank  now.  This  house  was 
used  for  a  public  school  until  the  trustees  built  the  new 
school  house  about  1870.  Since  that  date  it  has  been 
worked  over  and  used  for  a  dwelling.  At  the  date  of 
writing  William  Conrad,  one  of  the  principal  business  men, 
owns  it.  The  board  at  its  March  meeting  in  1846  ordered 
the  Seminary  rented  at  6  cents  per  night  for  the  upper 
rooms  and  8  cents  per  day  for  the  lower  rooms. 

In  1840  Leavenworth  was  very  anxious  to  receive  the 


G6  HISTORY  OP  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

seat  of  justice.  The  jail  at  Fredonia  was  in  poor  condition, 
and  the  prisoners  were  taken  to  Corydon  for  safe  keeping. 
Our  county  had  to  pay  the  expenses  for  the  prisoners  over 
there.  Since  a  new  jail  had  to  be  built  anyhow,  why  not 
re-locate  it  at  Leavenworth  ?  The  county  seat  was  moved  to 
Leavenworth  after  due  consideration.  The  County  Com- 
missioners appointed  David  Stewart,  William  Highfill,  and 
T.  W.  Fox  to  supervise  the  construction  of  the  new  court 
house.  The  new  house  which  was  built  of  brick  was  not 
much  larger  than  the  one  at  Fredonia.  The  court  room 
was  on  the  second  floor  while  the  offices  were  on  the  first 
floor  and  in  other  buildings.  The  lots  chosen  for  the  site 
were  at  the  end  of  Nelson  Street  near  the  hill.  David 
Stewart,  Thomas  W.  Fox,  and  William  Highfill  were  com- 
missioners to  locate  the  site  for  the  new  house  as  well  as 
to  choose  the  town  in  which  it  was  to  be  built. 

Elam  Wiley  and  a  committee  of  the  citizens  agreed  to 
build  the  new  court  house  gratis  if  it  was  moved  over  to 
Leavenworth. 

The  first  term  of  court  was  held  in  Leavenworth  June  5, 
1843.  The  County  Board  ordered  William  Mansfield  to 
build  a  stray  pen  upon  the  most  suitable  spot.  This  pen 
which  was  to  be  30  feet  by  30  feet  was  built  of  red  cedar 
and  black  locust  posts.  The  posts  were  placed  7  feet  apart 
and  set  two  feet  deep.  The  pen  was  planked  on  the  out- 
side with  poplar  and  capped  six  feet  high.  He  was  ordered 
to  use  No.  10  nails.  The  gate  was  to  be  well  made  and 
the  whole  pen  must  be  completed  by  next  meeting  of  the 
board.  At  the  same  meeting  of  the  court  an  additional 
justice  was  appointed  for  Leavenworth  since  the  county 
seat  was  moved  there. 


LEAVENWORTH  67 

A  new  set  of  rates  was  ordered  by  the  board  for  the 
ferries  on  the  Ohio.  Persons,  12y2  cents;  children  under 
14,  6*4  cents;  horses  and  wagon  with  driver,  50  cents; 
cattle,  horses  and  donkeys,  10  cents  each;  sheep,  goats 
and  hogs  3  cents  each.  The  rate  on  Big  Blue  was  one-half 
of  the  above.  The  amount  of  traffic  on  the  river  was  enor- 
mous in  these  good  old  days. 

At  the  same  meeting  the  board  ordered  Seth  M.  Leaven- 
worth to  get  the  county  surveyor  to  run  off  the  lots  and 
get  the  exact  size  of  each  so  that  the  jail  might  be  built. 

The  work  on  the  court  house  did  not  progress  as  fast 
as  the  board  thought  it  should.  The  county  agent  was 
ordered  to  sue  Elam  Wiley  and  others  to  force  them  to 
hasten  the  construction  in  June,  1844. 

The  treasurer's  report  of  the  county  was  given  at  the 
June  meeting  in  1845:  Cash  on  hands,  $1,085.90;  paid  out, 
$1,053.40.  Balance  on  hands,  $32.50.  At  the  same  meeting 
the  jail  was  received  by  the  board.  The  new  jail  was  much 
better  than  the  old  one.  It  was  located  in  a  brick  house 
in  which  there  were  other  offices. 

The  town  of  Leavenworth  was  incorporated  by  a  state 
law  in  February,  1835.    The  main  features  of  the  law  were  : 

Section  1 :  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Indiana  that  John  L.  Smith,  Elam  Wiley, 
Zebulum  Leavenworth,  Abraham  Edwards  and  William  A. 
Reynolds  be  and  are  hereby  appointed  trustees  of  the 
town  of  Leavenworth  to  serve  as  such  until  the  first  Mon- 
day in  September,  1835,  until  their  successors  are  elected 
and  qualifies. 

Section  2 :  That  the  said  trustees  at  their  first  meeting 
after  the  passage  of  this  act  shall  elect  one  of  their  num- 


68  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

ber  president  whose  duty  it  is  to  preside  over  all  their 
meetings  and  preserve  order,  give  the  casting  vote  in  case 
of  a  tie,  and  at  the  close  of  each  meeting  sign  the  minutes 
of  the  same.  The  trustees  shall  appoint  all  officers  neces- 
sary to  carry  out  this  act. 

Section  3 :  The  President  and  the  board  of  trustees 
shall  form  a  body  politic  and  may  sue  and  be  sued  and 
have  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  state.  They  may 
make  and  use  a  common  seal  and  make  all  rules  and  regu- 
lations necessary  for  the  proper  government  of  the  town. 

Section  4 :  On  the  first  Monday  in  September,  in  1835, 
and  each  succeeding  year,  there  shall  be  an  election  at 
some  place  in  the  town  to  elect  five  trustees  by  ballot.  At 
which  election  only  duly  qualified  voters  may  vote.  Twenty 
days  notice  of  the  election  must  be  given. 

Section  5 :  The  president  shall  act  as  inspector  of  the 
elections  and  call  to  his  assistance  two  other  qualified 
voters  who  with  himself  shall  be  judges  of  the  elections. 
The  polls  shall  be  open  at  10  :00  a.  m.  to  6  :00  p.  m.  The 
five  receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  shall  be  elected. 

Section  6 :  The  trustees  being  duly  elected  shall  meet 
after  taking  the  oath  to  discharge  their  duties  faithfully 
and  elect  one  of  their  members  president.  All  trustees 
must  be  qualified  voters  and  real  estate  owners.  The  Presi- 
dent and  the  board  of  trustees  shall  fill  all  vacancies  which 
may  happen  during  the  year.  A  majority  of  the  trustees 
shall  constitute  a  quorum  and  shall  meet  on  their  own 
adjournment. 

Section  7 :  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  or  as 
soon  as  possible  they  shall  proceed  to  elect  a  clerk,  treasurer, 
assessor  and  marshal,  each  of  whom  shall  serve  for  one 


LEAVENWORTH  69 

year  or  until  his  successor  is  elected  and  qualifies.  They 
shall  be  under  bond  to  the  President  and  the  board  of 
trustees  for  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties. 

Section  8 :  The  President  and  the  board  of  trustees 
shall  have  full  power  to  assess  and  collect  taxes  on  all 
real  estate  not  to  exceed  one-half  per  cent,  of  the  value. 
Poll  tax  of  50  cents  on  each  person.  The  board  may  levy 
a  tax  on  all  shows  and  expositions  that  may  be  held  in 
the  town,  or  prohibit  the  same  if  they  think  the  show  is 
injurious  to  morality. 

Section  9  :  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  marshal  to  carry 
out  all  orders  of  the  President  and  board  of  trustees.  The 
marshal  shall  have  power  to  conduct  sales  of  all  properties 
when  taxes  are  not  paid.  It  shall  be  his  duty  to  keep 
order  in  the  town. 

Section  10 :  The  President  and  the  board  of  trustees 
shall  have  power  to  improve  the  town  by  building  side- 
walks, piers,  wharves,  and  harbors  at  public  expense,  each 
man  paying  his  part  of  the  expense. 

Section  11 :  The  men  living  on  any  street  shall  petition 
the  President  and  the  board  of  trustees  if  they  desire  any 
improvements  made  and  the  President  and  board  of  trus- 
tees shall  act  upon  said  petition. 

Section  12 :  The  boundary  of  the  town  plot  shall  ex- 
tend to  the  limits  of  the  town  plot  as  it  now  is  or  may  be 
extended  and  recorded  in  the  recorder's  office.  It  shall 
include  all  that  part  lying  in  between  Front  Street  and  the 
Ohio  River  and  to  the  territory  here  given :  Commencing 
at  the  northwest  part  of  the  plot  and  following  the  Big 
Spring  branch  to  the  river.  Thence  up  the  river  to  the 
east  end  of  the  plot,  thence  north  to  the  river  hill  and 
thence  west  to  the  beginning. 


70  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Section  13 :  The  President  shall  have  the  power  with 
the  assistance  of  the  marshals  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the 
state. 

Section  14:  The  keeper  of  the  jail  shall  receive  any 
one  committed  to  him  by  the  board  of  trustees. 

Section  15 :  The  marshal  shall  be  the  collector  of  all 
levies  made  by  him  or  the  assessor.  He  shall  be  the  peace 
officer  of  the  town. 

Section  16 :  The  assessor  shall  make  out  a  roll  of  all 
the  property  owners  of  the  town  and  deliver  the  same  to 
the  board  of  trustees.     So  that  the  tax  may  be  assessed. 

Section  17 :  No  one  shall  sell  in  the  bounds  of  the  town 
any  intoxicants  in  less  quantities  than  a  quart  unless  he 
shall  obtain  a  license  from  the  trustees. 

All  laws  and  parts  of  laws  in  the  purview  of  this  act 
is  hereby  repealed. 

The  oldest  Methodist  Church  in  the  county  was  organ- 
ized at  Leavenworth.  The  early  history  of  the  church  is 
not  clear.  One  finds  that  the  Emanuel  Episcopal  Church 
of  Leavenworth  had  selected  John  Prentice,  William  Ells- 
worth, and  S.  M.  Leavenworth,  and  Dodd  as  warden  and 
vestryman  on  August  10,  1844. 

The  Presbyterian  church,  too,  was  built  in  those  early 
days.  A  fine  brick  parsonage  was  erected.  In  1849  an 
election  was  held  at  which  Reuben  D.  Tucker,  William 
Ellsworth,  and  Joseph  Thornton  were  elected  trustees  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  narrative  of  Leavenworth  will  be  continued  in  a 
subsequent  chapter. 

The  old  Universalist  people  built  a  church  in  Leaven- 
worth in  those  early  days.  The  Arena,  which  was  published 
from  1838  to  1841,  speaks  of  it. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PIONEER   DAYS   OF    THE    TWENTIES 

The  oldest  record  one  can  find  now  for  the  Commis- 
sioners' Court  begins  in  1824.  That  book  is  a  store  house 
of   information. 

The  board  doing  county  business  appointed  these  men 
as  listers  for  1825 :  Ohio  township,  Henry  Conrad ;  Ster- 
ling, N.  Tucker;  Whisky  Run,  James  Spencer;  Patoka, 
John  Wood ;  Jennings,  Ben  Wood.  Their  salary  for  assess- 
ing the  people  of  those  townships  was :  Ohio,  $5 ;  Sterling, 
$6 ;  Whisky  Run,  $5 ;  Patoka,  $3,  and  Jennings,  $2. 

The  above  figures  seem  very  small  nowadays,  but  back 
in  those  days  we  did  not  have  much  money.  There  was 
no  fixed  currency.  Spanish  and  other  kinds  of  money 
passed  as  money  here. 

The  election  of  1824  saw  no  party  lines  like  they  have 
drawn  now.  In  the  west  and  north  part  of  the  county 
the  people  voted  at  the  house  of  Samuel  Knowles.  The 
polls  were  open  at  Leavenworth  and  Fredonia  too,  but 
the  writer  did  not  secure  the  number  of  votes  cast  for 
the  candidates,  except  for  president,  which  was  Jackson 
34,  Clay  45,  and  Adams  43. 

The  supervisors  who  had  charge  of  the  roads  in  Craw- 
ford County  for  the  year  of  1825,  were :  Old  Salem  Road, 
Seth  Leavenworth  and  Thomas  Barnes; 

71 


72  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

From  Leavenworth's  mill — Milltown  to  David  M.  Stew- 
art's farm;  Paoli  road  from  Whisky  Run  line  to  county 
line,  Michael  Harvey;  Fredonia  to  intersect  Mount  Ster- 
ling road,  James  Glenn;  from  the  Mount  Sterling  road  at 
John  Mc Williams  to  the  top  of  Otter  Fork  and  Patoka  on 
the  Fredonia  road,  Thomas  Flemming;  from  David  M. 
Stewart's  road  to  Little  Blue  River,  James  Suddarth; 
from  the  Sterling  township  road  to  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween Patoka  and  Sterling  townships  to  the  ford  of  the 
creek  below  John  Keeth's,  William  Land;  from  John 
Ruth's  to  the  county  line,  Fountain  F.  Tucker;  from 
Cornelius  Hall 's  to  the  Orange  County  line,  William  Good- 
man; from  Richard  Weathers'  farm  to  Archibald  Sloan's, 
John  Jewell ;  from  A.  Sloan 's  to  the  Three  Forks  of  Little 
Blue,  Andrew  Kinkaid;  on  the  Governor's  old  trail  by 
A.  Sloan's  to  the  Orange  County  line,  Josiah  Anderson; 
from  Mount  Sterling  to  the  Orange  County  line  by  Robert 
Sands'  home,  Laban  Gregory;  from  the  three  forks  of 
Little  Blue  to  Enoch  Rattin's  farm  to  Patoka  line,  Enoch 
Rollin;  on  the  Fredonia  and  Mount  Sterling  road  begin- 
ning at  Turkey  Fork  Creek  and  running  to  the  Sterling 
township  line,  John  Lynch ;  from  the  Ohio  River  to  Prince- 
ton Ford  and  also  up  to  Hollcroft's  farm,  Allen  D.  Thorn; 
from  Al.  VanWinkle's  to  the  Perry  County  line,  Joseph 
Van  Winkle;  from  Leavenworth  to  the  Jennings  township 
line  west  of  town,  Peter  May ;  from  Cole 's  Ford  to  Leaven- 
worth, William  May;  from  Solomon  Rothrock's  on  his  own 
road  marked  out  by  himself,  Solomon  Rothrock;  on  road 
from  Chapin's  to  Mount  Sterling  and  Fredonia  road, 
Augustus  Chapin;  from  Leavenworth  to  the  Whisky  Run 
line  on  the  old  Salem  road,  Zebulum  Leavenworth;  from 


PIONEER  DAYS  OF  THE  TWENTIES  73 

Leavenworth  to  Fredonia,  from  Sennlings  to  the  Prince- 
ton road,  Valentine  Sawerheber. 

The  map  I  am  placing  here  is  as  accurate  as  one  can 
be  made.  Of  course,  slight  errors  occur  in  the  direction 
of  the  roads  but  as  far  as  is  known  the  one  enclosed  is  the 
nearest  correct.  The  following  table  will  help  one  to  see 
what  ones  supervised  certain  roads.  Those  which  I  have 
left  out,  I  have  not  been  able  to  establish  definitely:  Seth 
Leavenworth — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 — 1 ;  Zebulum  Leavenworth — 
2—2—2—2;  Thomas  Barnes— 1—1— 1—1 ;  Peter  Har- 
well— 3—3— 3  ;  Michael  Harvey;  James  Glenn— 4— 4— 4; 
James  Suddarth — 5 — 5 — 5  ;  William  Land — 6 — 6 — 6  ; 
Thomas  Flemings— 7— 7— 7 ;  Fountain  F.  Tucker— 8— 8— 
8 — 8  ;  Josiah  Anderson — 9 — 9 — 9 — 9 — 9  ;  John  Jewell — 
10— 10— 10— ;  Andrew  Kinkaid— 11— 11— 11 ;  Laban  Greg- 
ory— 12— 12— 12  ;  Peter  May— 13— 13  ;  William  May- 
14 — 14 — 14;  Augustus  Chapin — 16 — 16 — 16. 

The  others  left  out  are  not  easily  located.  The  old 
roads  are  now  abandoned  in  many  cases.  In  some  cases 
one  may  see  the  strip  through  the  woods  where  the  old 
road  ran.  In  some  cases  these  roads  were  60  feet  wide 
with  all  trees  and  stumps  cleared  out  of  the  way. 

The  election  of  1824  was  held  and  the  votes  brought 
into  the  county  seat.  Then  some  one  was  selected  to  carry 
the  vote  to  Corydon  which  was  the  state  capital  then.  On 
this  occasion  Martin  Scott  was  selected  to  carry  the  vote 
to  Corydon.     He  received  $1.90  for  making  the  trip. 

James  Totten,  who  lived  in  Whisky  Run  township,  was 
elected  county  sheriff,  and  Robert  S.  Thorn  was  appointed 
county  treasurer  for  the  year  of  1825.  Martin  H.  Tucker 
who  was  elected  sheriff  in  1822,  resigned  in  August,  1824, 


74  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

and  William  Hitchcock  was  appointed  to  fill  out  the  term 
till  1825,  when  Totten  became  sheriff. 

The  commissioners  elected  in  1824  were  Cornelius  Hall, 
James  Lyons,  and  Robert  Yates,  but  most  of  the  business 
was  done  by  the  Board  of  Justices. 

One  of  the  most  disgusting  conditions  of  the  county 
was  stray  stock  in  these  days.  The  small  towns  were  gen- 
erally well  supplied.  In  1824,  Henry  Conrad  was  ordered 
to  build  a  stray  pen  into  which  all  stray  stock  was  driven. 
He  was  allowed  $53.25  for  the  work.  Of  course  he  fur- 
nished the  lumber  for  the  pen. 

The  poor  people  of  the  county  were  cared  for  by  men 
who  were  appointed  to  oversee  the  poor.  The  list  in  1925 
was  James  VanWinkle,  Jennings;  Tom  Anderson,  Ster- 
ling; John  Ruth,  Patoka;  Pilgrim  Pope,  Whisky  Run; 
Joseph  Hanks,  Ohio.  As  far  as  I  can  find  out  there  was 
no  definite  period  for  their  term  of  office. 

Under  one  school  law  enacted  in  1816,  each  congres- 
sional township  was  entitled  to  a  superintendent  who 
would  care  for  the  sixteenth  section.  The  men  appointed 
in  1825  were :  1,  Martin  Scott,  section  16,  town  2  south, 
range  2  east;  A.  Sloan,  section  16,  town  2  south,  range  1 
east;  William  Anderson,  section  16,  town  3  south,  range  1 
east;  A.  D.  Thorn,  section  16,  town  4  south, range  1  east; 
James  Glenn,  section  16  town  2  south,  range  1  west;  Peter 
Carmichel,  section  16,  town  2  south,  range  2  west.  Andrew 
Kinkaid  was  seminary  trustee  in  1825. 

Under  the  old  Constitution  the  board  doing  county 
business  had  the  right  to  set  the  tax  rates  of  various  kinds. 
One  finds  in  1825,  these  rates  set  at  which  these  articles 
may  be  sold:     To  keep  a  tavern  (hotel)  $25;  run  a  ferry 


PIONEER  DAYS  OF  THE  TWENTIES  75 

on  the  Ohio  River,  $20 ;  run  a  ferry  on  Big  Blue,  $5 ;  one- 
half  pint  of  whisky,  12c;  one  pint,  12c;  1  quart,  18%C; 
one-half  pint  of  peach  brandy,  12y2Q;  one  pint  of  peach 
brandy,  18%c;  one  quart  of  peach  brandy,  Siy^c;  one-half 
pint  of  wine,  25c;  one  pint  of  wine  43%c;  one  quart  of 
wine,  75c;  one-half  pint  of  rum,  25c;  one  pint  of  rum, 
43%c;  one  quart  of  rum,  75c;  meals,  25c;  horse  feed, 
12i/2c;  bed,  12i/2c. 

Elisha  Tadlock  and  John  Leggett  took  out  licenses  to 
keep  store  that  year  and  handle  foreign  merchandise. 

One  condition  when  the  county  seat  was  moved  from 
Mount  Sterling  to  Fredonia  was  that  Thorn  was  to  build 
a  court  house,  a  jail,  and  an  excellent  road  from  the  river 
up  to  the  town.  He  promised  that  the  road  would  be  such 
that  two  horses  could  pull  one  ton  up  the  hill  easily.  The 
board  accepted  the  road  in  January,  1825,  but  William 
Course  and  Samuel  Sands  cast  dissenting  votes  till  they 
saw  the  two  horses  pull  the  ton  up  that  river  hill  from  the 
river  to  Posey  street. 

That  same  year  General  Thorn's  old  mill  near  Fre- 
donia, and  Gregg  and  Danford's  mill  on  Blue,  near 
Fredonia,  were  operating  and  grinding  for  the  farmers. 

The  same  year,  July  5,  1825,  a  man  died  at  James 
Brown's  home.  The  county  authorized  Andrew  Byers 
to  make  a  box  for  him.  No  one  kept  coffins  in  those  days, 
so  when  a  man  died,  some  one  generally  made  a  coffin  for 
him.     Prices  ranged  from  $3  to  $7  apiece. 

David  Rice  was  given  a  license  to  sell  goods  for  one 
year  and  William  Reynolds  was  allowed  a  license  to  keep 
a  hotel  or  tavern  in  Leavenworth.  Nancy  Cockran  of 
Fredonia  opened  up  a  hotel  and  took  out  license  for  the 


76  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

same.  John  L.  Smith  was  given  a  license  to  run  a  tavern 
in  Leavenworth  on  January  2,  1826,  for  one  year. 

Malachi  Monk  became  overseer  of  the  poor  for  Whisky 
Run  township  and  Henry  Conrad  of  Fredonia  became 
pound  master  and  constable  of  Ohio  township. 

Another  interesting  character  in  these  early  days  was 
Elam  Wiley.     In  1825  he  had  a  mill  on  Big  Blue  River. 

Moses  Smith  of  near  the  Three  Forks  of  Little  Blue 
was  superintendent  over  the  road  from  the  Blue  River 
Meeting  House  to  Old  Mount  Sterling. 

Elisha  Tadlock  in  May,  1826,  was  allowed  $37.50  for 
keeping  Timothy  Bennett,  a  pauper,  for  three  months. 
That  rate  was  $12.50  per  month. 

Thomas  W.  Fox  became  a  hotel  kepeer  in  Fredonia  in 
September,  1826,  and  David  Rice  took  out  store  license 
to  sell  foreign  goods  for  one  year. 

In  November,  1826,  the  road  from  Fredonia  was  or- 
dered opened  to  the  mouth  of  Little  Blue  River,  and  a 
ferry  was  put  over  the  Little  Blue  at  Jonathan  Rice's  farm. 

Zebulum  Leavenworth,  who  lived  in  Leavenworth, 
wished  the  county  seat  moved  from  Fredonia  to  Leaven- 
worth. In  November,  1826,  he  introduced  a  resolution  to 
the  effect  that  the  bonds  and  contracts  made  between  Thorn 
and  the  county  had  all  been  expired  for  some  time,  and 
the  contracts  had  never  been  complied  with  in  full  any 
time.  The  board  concurred  in  the  resolution.  The  jail 
had  not  been  completed  on  time  was  about  all  that  was  not 
complied  with.  Later  it  was  completed  and  given  to  the 
county.  Leavenworth  kept  working  to  get  the  county 
seat  moved.  He  had  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  called 
on  March  9,  1827.     The  committee  whose  duty  it  was  to 


PIONEER  DAYS  OF  THE  TWENTIES  77 

re-locate  the  county  seat  was  opposed  to  moving  the  seat 
of  justice.  The  committee  consisted  of  Henry  McGee  of 
Orange  County,  John  McPheters,  and  Robert  Mclntire 
of  Washington  County,  George  Boon  of  Harrison  County, 
and  David  Barr  of  Jackson  County.  These  men  met  at 
Fredonia  on  March  5,  1827,  and  were  sworn  by  Allen  D. 
Thorn,  but  after  due  consideration  decided  against  re-locat- 
ing it. 

Luther  Benham  who  took  out  license  to  keep  store  in 
May,  1827,  will  be  a  prominent  figure  in  our  history  for 
many  years. 

Huffman's  Mill  which  was  located  on  Blue  River  near 
the  Perry  County  line  began  grinding  about  this  time. 

Frequent  reference  is  made  to  John  Toney,  who  lived 
near  Blue  River  meeting  house  where  English  now  stands, 
about  1827.  He  was  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the 
vicinity  for  many  years. 

The  board  extended  Jennings  township  north  and 
Whisky  Run  south  till  the  two  townships  met  on  May  5, 
1827. 

The  land  tax  set  in  Crawford  County  at  the  May 
meeting  of  the  board  in  1827,  divided  the  land  into  three 
classes:  First  class,  100  acres,  $1.25;  second  class,  100 
acres,  $1,  and  third  class,  100  acres,  .75. 

To  sell  stoves  the  fee  was  $10 ;  to  keep  hotel  in  Fre- 
donia, $6 ;  to  keep  a  hotel  at  Leavenworth,  $4 ;  and  other 
towns,  $2 ;  other  licenses  were  listed  as  follows :  silver 
watches,  .50;  brass  clocks,  $1.50;  oxen,  37!/2C  a  yoke. 

On  July  2,  1827,  Alfred  Westfall  who  had  been  fined 
for  working  on  the  Sabbath  $1  and  cost,  worked  out  his 


78  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

fine  on  the  roads.  Back  in  those  days  men  were  more 
moral  about  swearing  than  they  are  now.  Martin  Scott 
was  fined  for  swearing  on  one  occasion.  Ephraim  Conrad 
was  fined  25c  for  an  assault  July  2,  1827.  He  plead  guilty 
and  paid  his  fine. 

The  election  of  1827  was  hotly  contested  in  Crawford 
County.  Seth  M.  Leavenworth  was  elected  to  represent 
Crawford  County  in  the  General  Assembly,  but  Gorry 
Jones  who  lived  down  near  Alton  contested  the  election 
of  Mr.  Leavenworth.  Of  course  Fredonia  did  not  want 
Mr.  Leavenworth  sent  to  Indianapolis  because  he  was  al- 
ways trying  to  get  the  county  seat  moved.  The  board 
doing  county  business  met  at  Fredonia  August  22,  1827. 
James  Smith  and  others  were  witnesses.  The  board  mem- 
bers were  William  Good,  James  Flinn,  John  Wood,  Jere- 
miah Tadlock,  William  Blackford,  Julius  Woodford,  John 
McMichel,  David  Rigg,  Allen  Thorn,  and  Zebulum  Leaven- 
worth. Seth  M.  Leavenworth  moved  to  reject  the  testimony 
offered  on  the  ground  that  Abraham  Bland  was  not  notified 
of  the  test.  The  motion  was  overruled.  The  fact  of  the 
matter  was  that  William  Course  who  was  the  inspector 
since  the  one  chosen  could  not  serve.  The  judges  were 
James  B.  Davidson  and  Joel  Lyons.  The  clerks  were 
Abraham  Bland  and  Samuel  Sarrel.  Gorry  Jones  claimed 
that  they  received  illegal  votes  willingly,  among  whom  were 
Moses  Scott,  James  Carpenter,  William  Hooten,  David 
S wander,  Ephraim  Westfall,  and  John  Mansfield.  If  the 
Leavenworth  precinct  was  thrown  out,  then  Seth  Leaven- 
worth would  probably  lose  the  election.  After  hearing  the 
discussion  on  both  sides  the  board  voted  on  the  motion  to 
throw  out  the  Leavenworth  precinct.     Those  in  favor  of 


PIONEER  DAYS  OF  THE  TWENTIES  79 

throwing  out  the  precinct  were  Mesen,  Good,  Rice,  Thorn 
and  Grigg.  Those  against  throwing  out  the  precinct  were 
Mesen,  McMichael,  Wood,  Flinn,  Tadlock,  Blackwell, 
Woodford,  and  Zebulum  Leavenworth.  Then  Seth  Leaven- 
worth was  declared  elected.    He  was  a  Whig. 

September  3,  1827,  Allen  D.  Thorn  made  a  motion  that 
all  that  part  of  Perry  County  which  had  been  detached 
from  Perry  County  should  be  made  into  a  new  township 
called  Union.  The  territory  previously  had  been  joined  to 
Patoka. 

Daniel  Lyon  of  Leavenworth  secured  a  license  to  run  a 
tavern  in  Leavenworth  for  one  year  from  September,  1827. 

Two  new  roads  were  opened  up  on  January  3,  1827. 
The  road  from  Fredonia  to  Alton  and  the  road  from 
Nathaniel  Hollcroft's  farm  to  go  west  and  intersect  the 
Princeton  road  near  Turkey  Fork.  Nathaniel  Hollcroft, 
John  Lynch,  and  Joseph  Van  Winkle  were  to  open  this 
road. 

The  campaign  of  1828  was  a  warm  one  in  Crawford 
County.  The  many  friends  of  Andrew  Jackson  made  a 
warm  fight  for  his  election.  The  vote  was  close  in  the 
county.  Jackson  had  230  votes  and  Adams  206  votes. 
Seth  M.  Leavenworth  was  elected  in  1828  but  he  lost  his 
popularity  when  he  advocated  railway  system.  The 
speech  he  made  in  full  may  be  found  in  the  Journal  about 
that  time,  March  20,  1827.  For  that  reason  men  favored 
Zebulum  Leavenworth.  James  Totten  was  elected  sheriff; 
E.  E.  Morgan  was  recorder.  The  vote  of  the  election  was 
gathered  up  and  taken  to  Rome  by  Sheriff  Totten.  From 
there  the  vote  went  to  Indianapolis.  Totten  was  allowed 
$5  for  taking  the  polls.     The  election  of  1828  was  held  in 


80  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

various  places  of  the  county.     Sheriff  Totten  held  an  elec- 
tion at  Milltown  this  year  also. 

The  leading  hotel  keepers  in  1828  have  been  John  L. 
Smith  of  Leavenworth,  also  to  sell  goods.  Seth  Leaven- 
worth to  keep  a  hotel,  too,  and  Daniel  Lyon. 

About  September  1,  1828,  a  tobacco  house  was  built  in 
Fredonia  to  accommodate  the  people  who  had  tobacco  for 
shipping. 

In  May,  1829,  Nancy  Grimes  was  caught  swearing  and 
fined  one  dollar.  This  is  the  first  record  I  have  found 
where  a  lady  was  fined  for  swearing. 

John  Sloan  became  sheriff  in  1829.  He  lived  near  Eng- 
lish. His  descendants  have  lived  in  the  county  until  the 
present  day. 

An  outer  door  for  the  jail  was  needed  very  much. 
E.  E.  Morgan  made  one  for  $20.  There  was  not  much 
chance  to  escape  from  the  jail.  Samuel  Clark,  Ephraem 
Conrad,  Edwin  Martin,  and  Elias  O'Bannon  were  paid 
$2.75  each  for  guarding  the  jail  when  D.  Buras  was  in  the 
jail.    Later  John  Sloan  built  the  door  for  $30. 

At  the  January  meeting,  1829,  E.  E.  Morgan  was 
allowed  $7.50  for  a  new  seal  of  the  county. 

In  September  efforts  to  open  up  a  road  from  Leaven- 
worth to  Hartford  were  made.  The  road  was  to  go  up  the 
town  hill  a  little  below  the  Big  Spring  branch.  Elam 
Wiley,  William  Anderson,  and  John  Landiss  were  author- 
ized to  open  this  road,  but  at  present  nothing  was  done. 
Later  John  L.  Smith,  James  G.  Sloan,  Ephraem  Standi- 
ford  were  appointed  on  the  above  road  and  completed  it 
in  due  time. 

The  following  report  of  the  census  of  Crawford  County 


PIONEER  DAYS  OF  THE  TWENTIES 


81 


was  obtained  from  the  State  Library  at  Indianapolis.  The 
author  was  fortunate  to  secure  the  valuable  information 
shown  here.  The  copy  in  the  State  Library  is  a  photostat 
of  the  original  made  in  1820.  The  names  of  people  given 
are  just  the  heads  of  families.  In  some  cases  the  names 
were  very  illegible. 

The  census  of  1820  was  taken  by  David  M.  Stewart  in 
Crawford  County.  One  may  see  the  original  copy  in 
Washington  City.  It  cost  $300  to  secure  a  copy  of  the 
census  of  1820.  From  the  copy  one  has  selected  the  follow- 
ing list  of  householders  and  citizens.  For  the  benefit  of 
the  reader,  the  author  lias  arranged  the  following  list  of 
names  alphabetically : 


1. 

Francis  Abel 

18. 

John  Bramlett 

2. 

William  Amos 

19. 

David  Beals 

3. 

Archibald  Allen 

20. 

Arandy  Bow  (?) 

4. 

William  Brice 

21. 

Margaret  Briley 

5. 

James  Bowman 

22. 

Henry  Buckner 

6. 

Jesse  Burris 

23. 

Ephraem  Blackburn 

7. 

John  Barley 

24. 

Benjamin  Bogard 

8. 

William  Bently 

25. 

James  Briley 

9. 

Jesse  Belcher 

26. 

John  Bell 

10. 

Joseph  Bowdin 

27. 

Bath  Beals 

11. 

Stephen  Bobb 

28. 

Sam  Briley 

12. 

Joseph  Bradford 

29. 

James  Barker 

13. 

Alexander  Barnett 

30. 

Joseph   Beals 

14. 

Thomas  Burris 

31. 

A.  Boman 

15. 

William  Baun   (?) 

32. 

Aaron  Baker 

16. 

Thomas  Borns 

33. 

Rachel  Brown 

17. 

Jonathan  Bird 

34. 

William  Brownfield 

82 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


35.  William  Brown 

36.  James  Bogard 

37.  John  Bulloch 

38.  John  Clerk 

39.  Edward  Curry 

40.  Reuben  Kemp 

41.  Henry  Conrad 

42.  William  Campbell 

43.  Enoch  Campbell 

44.  John  Casby 

45.  Daily  Colter 

46.  Philip  Cornelius 

47.  Stephen  Cosley 

48.  William  Curry 

49.  Nancy  Cochran 

50.  John  Cooper 

51.  John  Condra 

52.  William  Course 

53.  Charles  Chaplin 

54.  James  Cabbage 

55.  Dan  Davidson 

56.  Solomon  Deburn 

57.  Ezekiel  Downs 

58.  M.  Dillman 

59.  Thomas  Davis 

60.  James  Downs 

61.  Elias  Deffries  (?) 

62.  Ruth  Davis 

63.  Josiah  Danford 

64.  Andrew  Dermon 

65.  Asa  Davis 


66.  Thomas  Davidson 

67.  Jesse  Enlow 

68.  Abraham  Everett 

69.  John  Followell 

70.  Jacob  Froman 

71.  Thomas  Fleming 

72.  John  Freid 

73.  Jesse  Fitzjerald 

74.  Joseph  Funk 

75.  Henry  Fullenwider 

76.  John  Follow 

77.  Martin  Followell 

78.  Elizabeth  Funk 

79.  Peter  Funk 

80.  John  Funk 

81.  James  Flinn 

82.  Noah  Ford 

83.  James  Glenn,  Judge 

84.  John  Glenn 

85.  Sam  Glenn,  Sr. 

86.  Sam  Glenn,  Jr. 

87.  William  Goldman 

88.  John  Goldman 

89.  Thomas  Glenn 

90.  Jesse  Goldman 

91.  John  Goldman 

92.  Henry  Green 

93.  James  Glenn 

94.  Thomas  Golden 

95.  John  Goldman,  Jr. 

96.  William  Gott 


PIONEER  DAYS  OF  THE  TWENTIES 


83 


97. 

Hugh 

128. 

Conrad  Kurts 

98. 

William  Hollowell 

129. 

Jean  Kellums 

99. 

Michael  Harvey 

130. 

William  Kinkaed 

100. 

James  Harvey 

131. 

Stephens   Kathkart 

101. 

John  Hackman 

132. 

John  Kinkaid 

102. 

William  Hart 

133. 

Landon  Lawrence 

103. 

Haskins 

134. 

John  Jewell 

104. 

Anthony  Holland 

135. 

John  Lee 

105. 

James  Holland 

136. 

William  Lee 

106. 

John  Helm 

137. 

John  Lake 

107. 

Cornelius  Hall 

138. 

James  Lewis 

108. 

Uriah  Hart 

139. 

John  Lewis 

109. 

Elijah  Hase 

140. 

Timothy   Lyons 

110. 

William  Hall 

141. 

Abraham  Lee 

111. 

Ben  Hall 

142. 

Mark  Librius 

112. 

Thomas  Helm 

143. 

Peter  Luther 

113. 

David  Haskins 

144. 

Eliabeth  Lynch 

114. 

Lizzie  Hollowell 

145. 

Sam  Landrus 

115. 

Joshua  Hall 

146. 

Caleb  Longest 

116. 

Jarrit  Hall 

147. 

John  Lee 

117. 

Nathan  Hobbs 

148. 

James  Lance 

118. 

Moses  Justine 

149. 

Sam  Lantly 

119. 

Sarah  Jones 

150. 

Solomon  Levy 

120. 

Morris  Jordan 

151. 

Zebulum  Leavenworth 

121. 

Mason  Jenkins 

152. 

Reuben  Lovel 

199 

Jeremiah  Jenkins 
Joseph  Kinkaid 

153. 
154. 

TpTTT/^  I  1 

123. 

t)   t"  \Y   Cll 

James  Lyons 

124. 

Andrew  Kinkaid 

155. 

Mary  Lovet 

125. 

Maude  Kemp 

156. 

Jesse  McGee 

126. 

John  Kellers 

157. 

Samuel  Monroe 

127. 

James  Kellams 

158. 

John  McNight 

84 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


159.  Andrew   Mason 

160.  William  Mathers 

161.  Malachi  Monk 

162.  James  Mulky 

163.  Elizabeth  Murray 

164.  Abner  McCarty 

165.  John  McCarty 

166.  William  McCarty 

167.  Edward  Martin 

168.  E.  E.  Morgan 

169.  William  May 

170.  Robert  Moore 

171.  Sam  McMahan 

172.  Elisha  Moore 

173.  Thomas  Maxwell 

174.  James  Mansfield 

175.  David  Milliz 

176.  Allen  McBride 

177.  A.  J.  Musgrove 

178.  Jacob  McMichel 

179.  Peter   McMahon 

180.  Jacob  Miley 

181.  Jonathan  McWill   T 

182.  James  McMutrey 

183.  John  McMutrey 

184.  Sam  Munk 

185.  William  Miller 

186.  Dan  McCay 

187.  Thomas  Mayfield 

188.  John  McWilliams 

189.  Cornelius  Newkirk 


190.  Robert  G.  Nenis  ( ?) 

191.  Joseph  Nicholson 

192.  Yenby  Numdle   (?) 

193.  Abagail  O.  Bannan 

194.  William   Osborn 

195.  Robert  Osborn 

196.  Jonathan  Osborn 

197.  John  Osborn 

198.  Peter  Peckinpaugh 

199.  Moses  Pennington 

200.  Elijah  Pope 

201.  Henry  Perkhizer 

202.  James  Pay  ton 

203.  Brice  Patrick 

204.  William  Persons  (?) 

205.  James  Persons 

206.  William  Potter 

207.  Elisha  Potter 

208.  Edward  Pyle 

209.  Reuben  Pursons 

210.  Elisha  Phillips 

211.  Jesse  Potter 

212.  Eliah  Pope 

213.  John  Poter   ( ?) 

214.  Pilgrim  Pope 

215.  Martin  Patrick 

216.  Thomas  Pare 

217.  Jeremiah  Paugh 

218.  John  Ruth 

219.  David  Rice 

220.  William  Roberts 


PIONEER  DAYS  OF  THE  TWENTIES 


85 


221. 

Peter  Rodenback 

252. 

William  Suaves   (?) 

222. 

Thomas  Roberts 

253. 

Oliver  Stone 

223. 

Maude  Reed 

254. 

John  Shubusky 

224. 

William  Riley 

255. 

John  Stone 

225. 

Peter  Remmington 

256. 

Robert  Scott 

226. 

Clerk  Ruel 

257. 

William  J.  Scott 

227. 

Stephen  Roberson 

258. 

W.  C.  Scott 

228. 

Christian  Roger 

259. 

James  Shaw 

229. 

John  Roclerock 

260. 

Edward  Sands 

230. 

Charles  Ridge 

261. 

James  Scott 

231. 

Charles  Riddle 

262. 

David  Taylor 

232. 

James  Riddle 

263. 

John  Tibbs 

233. 

James  Russell 

264. 

M.  H.  Tucker 

234. 

James  Riche 

265. 

Elisha  Tadlock 

235. 

Peter  Saron 

266. 

James  Totten 

236. 

Robert  Spencer 

267. 

Jonas  Totten 

237. 

Wilson  Scott 

268. 

Jeremiah  Tadlock 

238. 

Andrew  Scott 

269. 

Caleb  Temple 

239. 

John  Stokes 

270. 

Alganda  Toney 

240. 

Charles  Springer 

271. 

Jesse  Vinun 

241. 

James  Springfield 

272. 

Obadiah  Vaughn 

242. 

John  Sybart 

273. 

John  Van  Meter 

243. 

David  Swoning 

274. 

Joseph  Van  Winkle 

244. 

John  Samuels 

275. 

Abraham  Van  Winkle 

245. 

John  Sturgeon 

276. 

James  Van  Winkle 

246. 

John  Scott 

277. 

William  WTalls 

247. 

John  Samuels,  Sr. 

278. 

William  Wabow  (?) 

248. 

Thomas  Stroud. 

279. 

Richard  Williams 

249. 

Valentine  Sauerheber 

'280. 

Isaiah  Walson 

250. 

W.  J.  Smith 

281. 

Addison  Williams 

251. 

William  Shepard 

282. 

Jacob  Weedman 

86 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


283.  Daniel  Weathers 

284.  John  Wood 

285.  Robert  Walker 

286.  William  Westfall 

287.  Arthur  Whitehead 

288.  James  Wentosh  (?) 

289.  Robert  Watson 
290  Chris  Wright 

291.  Sam  Wilks 

292.  Thomas  Williams 

293.  Richard  White 

294.  Richard  Weathers 


295.  George  Wyman 

296.  Julius  Woodford 

297.  William  Willett 

298.  Constance  Williams 

299.  Jesse  Williams 

300.  Henry  Warfield 

301.  Abraham  Wiseman 

302.  Ben  Wiseman 

303.  John  Yates 

304.  Robert  Yates 

305.  James  lrates 

306.  Edward  Zabins 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  THIRTIES 


Under  the  old  Constitution  the  board  doing  county 
business  or  the  county  justices  of  the  peace  did  all  the 
business  of  the  county.  In  Crawford  the  former  board 
did  most  of  the  business  up  to  1831.  So  on  July  5, 
1830,  John  L.  Smith,  who  had  been  county  treasurer,  re- 
signed and  the  board  appointed  Isaac  Sands  to  complete 
the  term.  Julius  Woodford  was  the  collector  of  the  rev- 
enues for  1831. 

The  new  law  which  authorized  the  three  county  com- 
missioners to  do  all  the  county  business  was  passed  in  1831, 
so  the  county  was  divided  into  three  districts  from  which 
they  were  to  elect  a  commissioner.  The  first  district  con- 
sisted of  Ohio  and  Union  townships;  the  second  district 
consisted  of  Jennings  and  Whisky  Run  townships,  and 
the  third  district  consisted  of  Patoka  and  Sterling  town- 
ships.   The  above  law  was  approved  January  19,  1831. 

The  election  of  1831  was  held  on  the  usual  date.  Jacob 
Rice,  James  Glenn  and  Zebulum  Leavenworth  were  elected 
county  commissioners.  The  seal  which  had  been  in  use  was 
still  used,  but  with  these  words  in  a  circle:  "Commis- 
sioners Court,  Crawford  County,  Indiana,"  and  a  design 
of  a  girl  holding  a  pair  of  balances. 

William  Course,  who  was  the  new  seminary  agent,  re- 

87 


88  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

ported  that  he  had  $294.18  in  November,  1831.  This 
money  was  being  collected  to  pay  for  a  seminary  building 
which  was  to  be  constructed  in  the  near  future. 

The  townships  at  this  time  had  no  permanent  boundary. 
For  instance,  on  the  north  of  Jennings  there  might  be  a 
strip  of  Congress  land  two  miles  square  before  one  came  to 
Whisky  Run  township,  so  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners ordered  Jennings  extended  north  and  Whisky  Run 
extended  south  till  they  met.  Also,  that  Sterling  and 
Whisky  Run  should  let  the  Paoli  road  be  the  boundary  of 
each.  In  that  way  the  squatter  on  Congress  land  was  under 
the  rule  of  the  township  in  which  he  was  situated. 

The  three  per  cent,  fund  was  divided  up  and  used  on 
the  roads  as  follows :  On  the  Bono  road,  and  for  a  bridge 
over  Slick  Run  $50  was  expended,  and  $95  on  the  Leaven- 
worth and  Princeton  roads.  For  better  service  on  the  roads 
the  townships  were  divided  into  road  districts :  Ohio  had 
four  districts;  Union  two  districts;  Patoka  had  four  dis- 
tricts; Sterling  had  four,  Jennings  had  six,  and  Whisky 
Run  had  six. 

Under  the  new  way  of  doing  county  business  the  county 
commissioners  were  in  session  two  days  each  three  months. 
They  received  $48  at  the  end  of  the  year.  These  facts  may 
interest  candidates. 

About  this  time  Thomas  Farmer,  who  was  in  jail  for 
some  minor  offense,  secured  a  rod  and  burned  out.  He  did 
the  burning  at  night  when  the  guard  was  not  watching 
him.  He  was  out  and  under  way  running  before  Sheriff 
Totten  saw  him.  Henry  Conrad,  the  pound  keeper  and 
jailer,  and  Sheriff  Totten  gave  pursuit,  but  Farmer  eluded 
the  men  and  went  down  over  the  high  bluff  to  the  river 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  THIRTIES  89 

where  he  swam  across.  Then  a  new  door  was  made  for 
the  jail.  It  was  made  out  of  oak  beams  which  were  six 
inches  by  four  inches  and  crossed  three  times  and  were 
bolted  together.  Such  a  door  would  be  a  relic  now  which 
would  take  the  prize  at  a  side  show.  He  was  allowed  $20 
for  making  the  door  and  hanging  it  on  hinges.  Of  course 
he  furnished  the  lumber.  Mr.  Morgan  did  the  work  on 
the  door. 

The  commissioners  in  those  days  had  the  right  to 
appoint  two  students  for  the  county  to  attend  Indiana 
University.  The  law  provided  that  these  students  be  ex- 
empt from  certain  fees.  At  the  meeting  in  November,  1834, 
William  Ridge  of  Crawford  County  was  appointed  to 
attend  school  there  and  David  Tadlock. 

The  election  of  1834  showed  that  James  Glenn,  Jere- 
miah Tadlock,  and  Julius  Woodford  were  elected  county 
commissioners.  James  Totten  was  elected  sheriff  of  the 
county  and  William  Course  was  seminary  agent.  He  then 
had  on  hands  $427.66. 

The  commissioners  at  their  meeting  in  May  ordered 
part  of  section  2,  township  four  south,  range  one  east, 
attached  to  Jennings  township,  to  which  it  has  belonged 
since  1835. 

Such  items  as  the  following  one  may  amuse  one  at  the 
price  of  the  article :  In  January,  1836,  allowed  Jephtha 
Williams  $3  for  furnishing  a  coffin  for  a  pauper. 

After  the  law  of  1835,  establishing  the  county  seminary, 
the  people  of  Leavenworth  decided  to  build  one.  Good 
lots  were  secured  on  high  ground  on  Court  Street  just 
west  of  Nelson  Street.  The  building  was  a  substantial 
stone    and   brick  house.      The   house    was   forty    feet   by 


90  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

twenty-five  feet  and  two  stories  high.  The  cost  of  the 
building  was  $1,042.    David  M.  Stewart  was  overseer. 

In  the  year  of  1836  in  June  the  board  doing  county 
business  was  authorized  to  manage  the  county  business 
again  instead  of  the  board  of  cpunty  commissioners. 

November,  1837,  Jacob  Wiseman  became  supervisor  of 
district  No.  4  in  Ohio  township.  The  same  month  the 
Potash  Hollow  road  to  the  Mason  Bird  farm  on  the  river 
bluff  was  ordered  opened  as  far  as  G.  W.  Chapin's  home. 

During  the  year  of  1832  a  very  high  water  occurred  on 
the  Ohio.  It  came  near  washing  Leavenworth  and  Alton 
away.  This  was  the  first  very  high  water  Leavenworth 
had  ever  had,  but  it  will  not  be  the  last. 

In  1830  Perry  George  Wilks  had  built  a  new  horse  mill 
near  his  home  in  what  is  now  Boone  township.  Mr.  Wilks 
was  born  in  England  and  came  to  America  and  took  out 
his  naturalization  papers  and  settled  near  Alton.  His 
horse  mill  was  a  great  help  to  the  settlers  who  wanted 
their  grists  ground.  Later  in  life  he  was  elected  county 
commissioner  of  our  county. 

The  election  in  1832  for  Crawford  County  showed  that 
James  Spencer  was  elected  sheriff,  and  Isaac  Sands,  treas- 
urer. Jackson  for  president  received  222  votes  and  Clay 
165.  Samuel  Frisbie  was  elected  state  senator  for  a  term 
of  three  years.  Zebulum  Leavenworth  on  the  Whig  ticket 
was  elected  to  the  General  Assembly. 

In  May,  1833,  the  men  who  had  been  selected  met  at 
Leavenworth  and  proceeded  to  blaze  out  a  road  from 
Leavenworth  to  Mt.  Pleasant.  William  Harris  was  the 
surveyor.  James  Pittman  and  Hinan  Easles  were  chain 
carriers.     The  other  men  in  the  party  were  Jacob  Denbo, 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  THIRTIES  91 

John  Daily,  John  Green,  Joseph  Kinkaid,  James  Kellams, 
and  William  Land.  Stephen  Golden  was  allowed  fifty 
cents  for  piloting  the  road  commissioners  to  Jasper. 

The  elections  of  1833  and  1834  resulted  in  Julius  Wood- 
ford being  elected  county  commissioner  from  Leavenworth 
district.  Thomas  Cummings,  of  Fredonia,  became  county 
treasurer  and  J.  N.  Phelps  was  elected  representative. 

The  assessors  of  the  county  who  had  listed  all  the 
property  of  the  county  in  1834  were :  John  Wood,  Ohio 
township ;  Same  Lowe,  Whisky  Run ;  Archibald  Sloan, 
Sterling;  Thomas  L.  Golden,  Patoka;  G.  Good,  Union. 
Their  salaries  were:  Wood,  $6;  Lowe,  $12;  Sloan,  $6; 
Golden,  $3  and  G.  Goad,  $3. 

Also,  Jeremiah  Tadlock  was  elected  county  commis- 
sioner in  1834.  For  a  long  time  the  assessors  were 
appointed  in  Crawford  County.  Then  the  new  constitu- 
tion made  the  office  elective.  The  other  members  now  were 
Julius  Woodford  and  William  Riley. 

The  election  returns  were  brought  to  the  county  seat 
by  Gab,  Goad,  Union;  Dayle  Tater,  Jennings;  Dan  Mc- 
intosh, Whisky  Run ;  Tom  Roberts,  Ohio ;  William  Tucker, 
Patoka.  These  men  were  paid  as  follows :  Goad,  75  cents ; 
Tater,  75  cents;  Mcintosh,  75  cents;  Roberts,  75  cents  and 
Tucker,  75  cents;  Archibald  Sloan,  Sterling,  75  cents  also. 

Daniel  Mcintosh  was  allowed  $2.50  for  making  a  box 
for  some  man  who  was  found  dead  in  the  town  of  Leaven- 
worth.   He  furnished  the  lumber  and  the  nails. 

For  many  years  travel  between  Corydon  and  Leaven- 
worth was  hindered  much  on  account  of  no  bridge  over 
Big  Blue  at  Cole's  ford.  In  January,  1835,  the  board  ap- 
pointed Zebulum  Leavenworth,  John  L.  Smith  and  Allen 


92  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

D.  Thorn  to  meet  the  county  commissioners  of  Harrison 
County  and  discuss  the  proposition. 

The  board  also  allowed  $100  to  help  build  a  bridge  over 
Big  Blue  at  Milltown  if  Harrison  County  would  pay  the 
same  amount. 

The  election  of  1835  and  appointments  placed  these 
men  in  office :  Thomas  Cummings,  treasurer ;  John  S. 
Smith  to  succeed  Cummings.  Assessors  were :  Patoka, 
William  Highfill;  Sterling,  A.  Sloan;  Whisky  Run,  Ben 
Totten;  Union,  G.  Goad;  Jennings,  Gustavius  Chapin; 
Ohio,  Henry  Conor.  Same  Lowe  was  appointed  county 
assessor  under  the  act  of  February  7,  1835.  Julius  Wood- 
ford was  elected  county  commissioner  for  a  term  of  three 
years. 

The  state  of  Indiana  frequently  made  appropriations 
to  build  bridges.  In  March,  1836,  one  finds  this  article: 
There  was  set  aside  a  sum  of  $300  to  build  a  bridge  over 
Little  Blue,  west  of  Fredonia;  $50  was  paid  for  the  dug- 
way;  $450  was  to  be  spent  on  the  Jasper  road  and  $100 
on  the  Salem  road. 

At  the  March  term  of  court  in  1836,  L.  N.  Phelps  was 
appointed  to  act  as  an  agent  for  receiving  the  land  Mr. 
Thomasson  was  to  donate  to  the  county  for  a  poor  farm. 

In  May,  1836,  when  the  county  commissioners  met,  the 
law  had  put  the  right  in  the  hands  of  the  board  doing 
county  business.  These  men  were  members:  Thomas 
Roberts,  James  Gaither,  Allen  D.  Thorn,  John  L.  Mc- 
Naughton,  Abram  Edwards,  Dudley  Gresham,  Jesse  Bar- 
nett,  W.  M.  Taylor,  Joel  Ray,  Peter  Sower,  Thomas 
Golden,  William  Highfill,  Gabriel  Goad  and  John  Martin. 
Allen  D.  Thorn  was  elected  president  of  the  board. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  THIRTIES  93 

Thomas  Cummings  was  appointed  agent  for  the  care 
of  the  jail.  He  was  to  repair  the  jail  if  it  could  be  re- 
paired. 

A  new  seal  was  ordered  made.  It  consisted  of  a  tree 
and  a  plow  in  the  center  of  a  circle.  This  seal  was  for  the 
board  doing  county  business. 

The  board  doing  county  business  allowed  James  Totten 
$54  for  assessing  the  county. 

In  1837  a  new  law  was  enacted  which  provided  for 
three  county  school  commissioners  or  examiners.  It  seems 
that  Isaac  Sands  and  Sam  Lathop  were  the  only  two 
elected. 

The  election  of  1836  was  a  memorable  one.  Whig 
politics  was  growing  warm.  Many  Democrats  did  not 
like  Van  Buren  because  he  had  a  surrey  to  which  he  would 
harness  two  fine  horses  and  drive  away.  To  make  matters 
worse,  about  this  time  some  prince  of  Arabia  sent  him  a 
fine  pair  of  Arabian  horses  and  a  beautiful  necklace  of 
pearls  for  his  wife.  Congress  refused  to  let  him  receive 
them.  The  horses  were  sold  and  the  money  put  into  the 
treasury  while  the  necklace  of  pearls  was  left  in  the 
archives  of  the  Treasury  Building.  This  did  not  help 
Van  Buren  any  in  his  race.  On  the  other  hand,  Harrison 
was  born  in  a  log  cabin  in  Virginia.  He  wore  a  homespun 
suit  and  a  cap  made  of  coon-skin.  Naturally  such  a  man 
appealed  to  the  hardy  pioneers.  The  vote  for  President 
in  1828  was:  Jackson,  230,  Adams,  206;  in  1832,  Jack- 
son, 222,  Clay,  165;  in  1836,  Harrison,  196,  Van  Buren, 
166.  Harrison's  majority  over  Van  Buren  was  33  votes. 
Robert  Sands  was  elected  representative  to  the  General 
Assembly.     Local  tradition  says  that  he  wore  a  homespun 


94  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

suit  to  Indianapolis,  much  to  the  surprise  of  the  other 
members  from  other  sections  of  Indiana. 

The  board  ordered  the  jail  repaired  by  putting  certain 
logs  back  or  new  ones  and  bars  of  iron  over  the  windows. 
J.  F.  and  N.  Morgan  painted  the  windows,  furnished  seats 
and  made  necessary  repairs  in  May,  1839.  One  finds  such 
a  note  as  this,  that  Moses  Smith  was  taken  to  Corydon  for 
safe  keeping.  The  writer  was  informed  that  Smith  had 
lost  his  mind  at  times.  Henry  Little  was  given  $7.56  for 
keeping  Smith  at  Corydon.  Mr.  Smith  at  one  time  was  an 
able  citizen. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  justices  in  May,  1839, 
licenses  were  issued  to  men  as  follows:  Isaac  Sands,  Will- 
iam Mansfield,  D.  Dodson,  Joseph  Denbo,  T.  Tresbie, 
Joseph  Caldwell,  A.  E.  Edwards,  Henry  Buck,  James  Ken- 
dall, S.  M.  Leavenworth,  Elam  Wiley,  and  William  Proc- 
tor. The  board  doing  county  business  then  consisted  of 
John  Martin,  Libris  Frisbie,  William  M.  Taylor,  James 
Sloan,  Philip  Crecelius,  Haley  Good,  Abram  Edwards, 
Thomas  Roberts,  Shimea  Hughes,  and  Allen  D.  Thorn. 
They  entered  on  their  duties  in  January,  1840. 

Zebulum  Leavenworth  was  postmaster  at  Leavenworth 
for  several  years  in  the  thirties.  On  one  occasion  the 
Corydon  postmaster  found  the  mail  sent  out  unchanged. 
He  placed  the  following  article  in  the  Corydon  Investi- 
gator: 

"The  mail  came  up  from  Leavenworth  the  other  day 
without  being  opened.  Several  packages  of  letters  and 
papers  intended  for  that  town  were  unopened.  They  were 
stopped  here  till  the  mail  returned.     The  driver  of  the 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  THIRTIES  95 

stage  had  to  wait  one-half  hour  for  some  one  to  open  the 
mail  and  then  came  away  without  it.  This  is  not  the  first 
time  such  has  happened.  Will  the  good  people  of  Leaven- 
worth submit  to  such  treatment?  We  are  not  acquainted 
with  the  gentleman  who  is  the  postmaster  and  do  not  com- 
plain because  of  any  hostility.  We  do  not  know  whether 
it  is  due  to  ignorance  or  carelessness,  but  we  shall  feel 
constrained  to  inform  the  postmaster-general  if  such  is 
not  stopped. 

"Signed:  Corydon  Investigator." 

Mr.  Leavenworth  replied  that  the  stage  driver  was  late 
and  did  not  wait  five  minutes  till  the  postmaster  came. 
He  hoped  that  Mr.  Mattingly  would  attend  to  his  own 
business  after  this.  Leavenworth's  conduct  was  approved 
by  certain  citizens  and  passengers  in  the  stage. 

The  Leavenworth  Arena  was  published  in  Leavenworth 
May  17,  1838.  Isaac  Smith  was  the  editor.  He  was  a 
Whig.  The  Leavenworth  market  for  May,  1838,  was: 
Flour,  $6.50  per  barrel;  wheat,  75  cents  per  bushel;  corn, 
50  cents;  meal,  50  cents  per  bushel;  oats,  3114  cents  per 
bushel;  potatoes,  50  cents  per  bushel;  ham,  7  cents  per 
pound;  butter,  12%  cents  per  pound;  eggs,  614  cents  per 
dozen;  salt,  62%  cents  per  barrel. 

The  main  stage  lines  ran  from  Leavenworth  to  Indian- 
apolis by  Milltown,  Paoli,  and  Orleans.  Leavenworth  and 
Woodford  were  the  proprietors  on  this  stage  line.  The 
drivers  put  up  at  various  towns  for  the  night.  No  driving 
was  done  after  night.  None  but  the  very  best  of  men  were 
entrusted  to  drive  the  stages.  In  all  cases  drivers  were 
not  allowed  to  drink  liquor. 


96  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

John  L.  Smith  and  Company  operated  a  stage  line  from 
Leavenworth  to  New  Albany  till  his  death  on  Jnly  31, 
1838,  at  the  age  of  42  years.  Later  his  stage  line  was 
under  separate  management.  The  best  of  horses  were  used 
for  driving.  Men  were  required  to  be  sober  while  driving 
but  on  many  occasions  the  drivers  were  not. 

The  Leavenworths  fought  hard  to  keep  the  stage  line 
from  Leavenworth  to  Indianapolis.  There  was  a  move  to 
buy  out  the  stage  line  and  run  it  from  Indianapolis  to 
New  Albany  by  Bedford,  Paoli  and  Palmyra.  Seth  M. 
Leavenworth,  who  was  a  candidate  for  representative,  went 
to  Washington  in  July,  1838,  and  did  the  best  he  could  to 
hold  the  line,  but  J.  Orchard  bought  out  the  stage  line  on 
September  15,  1838.  Leavenworth  did  not  get  back  till 
after  the  election,  so  his  name  was  withdrawn  from  the 
race.  Probably  Seth  might  have  won  had  he  been  at  home 
to  manage  his  campaign,  but  he  lost  popularity  over  advo- 
cating railroads  back  in  the  early  days. 

The  following  notice  was  taken  from  the  Arena: 
"Teacher  wanted:  The  subscribers  are  desirous  of  secur- 
ing an  energetic  teacher  who  has  had  much  experience  to 
teach  a  school  in  Ohio  township  about  three  miles  below 
Fredonia  on  the  Ohio  river.  Liberal  wages  will  be  paid 
for  the  work.  Peter  Peckinpaugh,  John  Stone,  and  Rice 
Peckinpaugh — trustees. ' ' 

At  William  Anderson's  farm  Mr.  Lewis  Payton  was 
accidentally  shot  and  instantly  killed  while  butchering 
hogs  in  November,  1838.  He  picked  up  one  of  the  Ken- 
tucky rifles  to  shoot  a  hog  when  another  man  told  him  that 
the  gun  he  had  was  empty.  He  put  his  foot  on  the  lock 
and  pushed  the  hammer  back,  intending  to  blow  into  the 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  THIRTIES  97 

muzzle  of  the  gun  to  see  if  it  was  really  empty.  Just  as  he 
put  his  mouth  over  the  end  of  the  barrel  the  toe  of  his  shoe 
slipped  off  of  the  hammer,  letting  the  gun  fire,  thus  killing 
him  outright. 

The  Leavenworth-Bloomington  Railroad  was  one  of  the 
big  objective  features  of  the  day  in  December.  The  cor- 
poration sold  enough  stock  to  pay  for  the  grading. 

One  can  hardly  get  an  idea  of  the  business  done  at 
Leavenworth  in  the  late  thirties.  The  following  table  was 
copied  from  the  Leavenworth  Arena  for  February  22, 
1839: 

4,300  barrels  of  flour  at  $6   $25,800 

500  barrels  of  pork  at  $13  6,500 

450  kegs  of  lard  at  $4 1,800 

490,000  lbs  of  bull  pork   21,900 

1,000  sacks  of  oats   750 

12,500  bu.  of  oats  at  30c  3,750 

2,000  bu.  of  oats  at  25c  500 

2,000  bu.  of  shorts   375 

6,000  bu.  of  bran 500 

1,000  bu.  of  potatoes   500 

50  bbl.  of  beef 400 

20  head  of  horses ) .  .  .  .  2,000 

120  head  of  sheep   240 

150  head  of  hogs  800 

600  bbl.  of  lime   400 


Total  amount   $66,190 

It  shows  what  articles  were  bought  and  sold  in  about 
one  month  or  a  short  space  of  time. 


98  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Salt  was  a  leading  article.  One  finds  that  one  of  the 
leading  merchants  bought  1,400  barrels  of  steam  salt  on 
June  14,  1838.  Again  on  June  28,  1838,  he  bought  200 
more  barrels. 

The  first  cook  stoves  were  brought  to  Leavenworth 
about  August  30,  1839.  One  finds  on  that  day  that  Elam 
Wiley  advertised  that  he  had  three  cook  stoves  for  sale  in 
his  store. 

One  finds  that  coffee  was  advertised  for  sale  about  Jan- 
uary 10,  1839.    It  was  generally  sold  at  saloons  then. 

The  good  people  of  Ohio  township,  including  Fredonia, 
had  organized  an  agricultural  society.  They  had  a  general 
farmers'  institute  on  the  last  Saturday  in  October,  1840. 
The  following  prizes  were  offered : 

Horses  under  1  year  old  $3.00 

Second  best  horse   2.00 

Best  colt  from  James  Sumpter's  fine  horse, 

Cosco    $4.00  extra 

Second  best    3.00 

Cattle,  best  bull   5.00 

Best  under  1  year  of  age 3.00 

Second  best    2.00 

Best  heifer  under  1  year  of  age 2.00 

Second  best    1.00 

Grain,  best  acre  of  corn 5.00 

Second  best    3.00 

Best  acre  of  wheat  5.00 

Second  best    3.00 

Best  five  yards  of  jeans 2.00 

Second  best  5  yards  of  jeans 1.00 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  THIRTIES  99 

No  one  but  members  of  the  society  could  send  in  an 
exhibit.  Membership  fees  were  $1  each.  Thomas  Cum- 
ming,  March  7,  1840. 

The  following  account  of  the  three  Bulls  is  worth  read- 
ing :  Smith  Bull  and  Alfred  Bull  were  the  sons  of  Squire 
Bull.  They  came  to  Leavenworth  in  1840  and  boasted 
what  they  intended  to  do.  Old  Squire  Bull  claimed  that 
he  was  going  to  set  up  a  cabinet  shop  at  Milltown  and 
Leavenworth.  He  soon  had  men  believing  that  he  had  a 
large  amount  of  money,  some  of  which  he  had  with  him. 
He  and  Smith  Bull  contracted  some  debts  on  all  sides. 
Smith  Bull  tried  to  escape  one  night  but  the  people  caught 
him  and  brought  him  back.  He  eluded  the  officers  and 
escaped.  That  night  Alfred  Bull  tried  to  get  his  horse 
out  of  the  stable  and  escape  but  was  detected.  The  horse 
was  locked  up  but  later  in  the  night  he  broke  the  lock, 
secured  his  horse,  and  fled.  Despite  the  vigilance  of  the 
citizens,  Squire  Bull,  too,  escaped,  leaving  all  their  debts 
not  paid.  Editor  Smith  claims  that  the  town  is  better  off 
since  the  three  Bulls  left  on  March  19,  1840. 

The  census  of  1840  showed  that  the  following  people 
lived  in  Crawford  County:  Whites,  5,270;  blacks,  6  boys 
and  6  girls.  There  were  three  pensioners :  George  Key- 
sucker,  age  90 ;  John  Ruth,  age  89 ;  and  Jesse  Toney,  age 
78. 

James  H.  Hayes  taught  school  in  Leavenworth.  He 
completed  the  first  half  July  11,  1839.  He  intended  to 
start  the  second  half  soon.  He  was  a  man  of  long  ex- 
perience in  school  work.  He  wished  to  thank  all  the 
patrons  for  the  help  they  had  given  him  during  the  past 
half  and  begged  their  aid  during  the  second  half. 


100  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Mr.  J.  Woodford  wished  to  announce  that  he  would 
begin  a  school  in  the  old  Universalist  church  in  Septem- 
ber, 1839.  He  would  charge  $3.25  a  term  for  the  higher 
branches  and  $2.50  a  term  for  children.  The  ad  appeared 
August  19,  1839. 

Certificate  of  character  for  Mr.  Joseph  T.  Fell:  "This 
is  to  certify  that  Joseph  T.  Fell  traveled  with  me  during 
the  time  I  was  engaged  in  Foster  and  Hunt's  circus  last 
season.  He  is  a  man  in  every  sense  of  the  word  worthy 
of  the  estimation  being  placed  in  him,  being  upright  before 
God  and  man.  There  being  certain  slanderous  reports  out 
in  this  place  and  Leavenworth  concerning  a  chest  and  its 
contents  belonging  to  a  certain  William  Lake,  which  have 
been  circulated  by  no  other  person  than  Lake  himself. 
Knowing  him  to  be  a  dangerous  man  with  his  mouth  and 
tongue  I  give  this  report  to  justify  Mr.  Fell.  William 
Hubble,  Boss  of  the  canvas  of  Foster  and  Hunt's  Circus, 
August  12,  1839,  Fredonia,  Indiana." 

On  October  17,  1839,  John  Tadlock  opened  up  a  hotel 
called  the  Flag  Hotel.  He  had  a  good  bar,  plenty  to  eat 
on  the  table,  and  a  good  stable  room  for  horses.  Later  in 
the  winter,  on  February  13,  1840,  he  established  the  first 
ferry  over  the  Ohio  River  where  horses  could  be  ferried 
over  any  time. 

The  election  in  1839  was  a  warm  affair  in  Crawford 
County.  Mr.  Sands  was  elected  to  represent  Crawford 
County  in  the  General  Assembly.  The  Corydon  Investi- 
gator, which  was  the  leading  paper,  referred  to  the  elec- 
tions by  saying  that  "Old  Moccasin"  would  be  well 
represented  now.  To  which  the  Arena  replied:  "Thank 
you,  sir,  for  your  insinuation.     The  compliment  you  pay 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  THIRTIES  101 

to  'Old  Moccasin',  the  daughter  of  'Old  Granny  Shoe 
String',  is  well  taken.  As  we  do  not  have  the  gift  of 
prophecy  we  shall  not  attempt  to  foretell  the  future  of 
'Old  Granny  Shoe  String.'  '  The  above  names  were  pet 
names  for  Crawford  and  Harrison  Counties.  At  that  time 
Sands  wore  homespun  suits. 

The  Whigs  had  nominated  Proffer  of  Petersburg  and 
the  Democrats  had  selected  Robert  Dale  Owen  of  New 
Harmony.  Both  men  spoke  at  Leavenworth  and  Fredonia 
during  the  campaign.  Owen  spoke  at  Fredonia  July  17, 
1839.     The  result  of  the  election  is  given  below : 

Proffer  Owen 

Jennings  Township   139  95 

Whisky  Run  Township 102  101 

Ohio  Township   72  43 

Sterling   Township    26  43 

Patoka  Township   28  33 

Union   Township    14  5 

Proffer  received  381  votes  and  Owen  received  350. 
Proffer  won  by  a  large  vote  in  the  district. 

The  following  notice  will  be  interesting  to  the  de- 
scendants of  Jesse  Riddle:  "Lost  or  stolen — from  my 
pocket  while  attending  the  election  in  Leavenworth  on 
August  6,  1838,  a  pocket  book  containing  $9  in  cash  and  a 
note  on  Mr.  Sharpe  for  $10  besides  many  other  papers. 
Any  person  who  will  return  the  same  to  me  or  the  office 
will  be  rewarded.  Signed — Jesse  Riddle,  August  6,  1838, 
Ohio  township." 

The  Young  Men's  Lyceum  was  organized  in  Leaven- 


102  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

worth  on  January  10,  1839.  J.  M.  Conrad  was  chairman 
and  T.  Holmes  was  secretary.  Meetings  were  held  in  the 
seminary  building  or  the  Universalist  church  which  was 
the  oldest  church  built  in  the  town  of  Leavenworth  as  far 
as  one  can  find.  The  meeting,  which  was  held  on  February 
22,  1839,  was  addressed  by  William  Course.  Course  was  a 
very  interesting  man  who  did  much  to  build  up  the  town 
till  one  day  he  fell  in  love  with  another  man's  wife,  with 
whom  he  ran  away.  The  writer  could  not  find  that  the 
other   man   ever   complained   about   the   affair. 

A  much  needed  industry  was  started  in  Leavenworth 
on  June  13,  1839,  when  Horatio  Sharp  completed  his 
building  and  established  a  carding  machine.  Many  of  the 
old  citizens  remember  where  the  carding  machine  stood. 
He  charged  8  cents  a  pound  for  white  wool  and  12y2  cents 
a  pound  for  all  other  kinds. 

Squire  Weathers  opened  up  a  chair  factory  in  Leaven- 
worth on  April  25,  1839.  He  had  installed  all  kinds  of 
turning  tools  with  which  he  would  make  most  any  kind  of 
a  chair. 

The  Leavenworth  skiff  shop  was  established  and  run- 
ning at  full  blast.  Much  will  be  said  about  it  in  another 
chapter. 


CHAPTER   VI 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES 


The  campaign  of  1840  was  a  very  warm  one.  The 
Whigs  were  well  organized  for  the  battle  while  the  V.  B.  or 
Locofocos,  as  the  Democrats  were  called,  were  not  idle. 
The  Whigs  called  a  meeting  at  the  seminary  building  very 
early  in  the  year  on  January  1,  1840.  William  Course  was 
elected  president  and  Isaac  Smith  secretary.  The  mass 
convention  selected  the  following  men  as  delegates  to  the 
Whig  district  convention  which  was  to  be  held  at  Rock- 
port  :  William  E.  Reynolds,  William  Course,  and  Elam 
Wiley.  A  vigilance  committee  was  appointed  which  was 
composed  of  men  from  the  following  townships  as  follows : 
Jennings,  Zebulum  Leavenworth,  J.  Gibbs,  Isaac  Smith; 
Whisky  Run,  F.  Frisbie,  James  Spencer,  William  M.  Tay- 
lor; Sterling,  Joseph  Denbo,  Isaac  Sands,  James  Sloan; 
Ohio,  Thomas  W.  Fox,  A.  D.  Thorn  and  Henry  Fullen- 
wicler;  Patoka,  James  Glenn,  W.  A.  Lamb  and  F.  F. 
Tucker;  Union,  Halley  Goad,  Steve  Roberson  and  Thomas 
Sillen. 

James  Gibbs  was  elected  chairman  of  the  county  central 
committee  while  William  R.  Reynolds  and  Thomas  Cum- 
nings  were  vice-chairmen. 

The  mass  convention  selected  Elam  Wiley  and  Thomas 

103 


104         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Cummings  delegates  to  the  state  convention.  A  committee 
of  thirteen  was  selected,  the  members  of  which  were : 
Whisky  Run,  James  Totten  and  D.  M.  Stewart;  Sterling 
township,  James  G.  Sloan  and  Isaac  Sands;  Patoka,  John 
C.  Haskins  and  T.  L.  Golden;  Union,  John  Martin  and 
Haley  Goad;  Ohio,  William  Roberts,  Joseph  Van  Winkle 
and  Allen  D.  Thorn;  Jennings,  William  R.  Reynolds  and 
Zeb nlum  Leavenworth. 

Samuel  Bigger,  whom  the  Whigs  had  nominated  for 
Governor,  visited  Leavenworth  where  he  spoke  to  a  large 
crowd  on  April  15,  1840,  and  at  Fredonia  on  April  16. 

Probably  the  first  straw  vote  ever  taken  in  Crawford 
County  was  taken  at  Levi  Grant's  log  rolling  on  April  23, 
1840.  The  result  of  the  straw  vote  was:  Harrison  19  and 
Van  Bur  en  1. 

The  election  of  August  6,  1840,  gave  the  following 
results : 


Governor —               Jen. 

Ohio 

W.R. 

Union 

Pat. 

Ster. 

Total 

Bigger      152 

101 

89 

19 

36 

32 

429         72 

Howard      115 

33 

104 

4 

37 

64 

357 

Representative — ■ 

James    Sloan.  .    143 

94 

79 

19 

31 

30 

396         19 

Sam    Sands 119 

40 

110 

4 

40 

66 

379 

Sheriff— 

W.  R.  Reynolds  143 

76 

79 

18 

28 

31 

375 

Houston    Miller  122 

58 

102 

4 

43 

66 

395         20 

The  Whigs  elected  all  their  ticket  except  Mr.  Reynolds. 
The  autumn  election  gave  Harrison  435  and  Van  Buren 
361  votes. 

The  Whigs  had  won  a  great  victory  in  the  nation  and 
state.  The  Whigs  of  Crawford  County  planned  a  wonder- 
ful illumination  at  Fredonia  for  Monday,  November  23, 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES  105 

1840.  On  March  4,  1841,  they  held  a  great  day  at  Fre- 
donia.  The  women  brought  ont  baskets  full  of  food.  The 
men  at  these  old  barbecues  roasted  whole  beeves  for  the 
people  to  eat.  In  those  days  no  one  objected  seriously  to 
a  tin  cup  full  of  "apple  jack."  E.  E.  Morgan,  T.  W.  Fox, 
W.  Roberts,  Henry  Conrad,  B.  Stephens,  Thomas  Cum- 
mins, John  Stone,  Nicholas  Peckinpaugh,  J.  McFall,  Sam 
M.  Clark,  D.  Connor,  J.  Abel,  Elam  Wiley,  J.  S.  B.  Kelso 
made  up  the  committee  on  preparation.  The  secretaries 
were  William  Blackburn,  John  T.  Morgan  and  G.  W.  Rob- 
erts. The  committee  to  secure  powder  was  composed  of 
Nathan  Morgan  and  H.  B.  Meylin.  There  was  a  wonderful 
crowd  present.  The  day  was  beautiful.  Noted  speeches  by 
Samuel  Beals  of  Kentucky,  Abraham  Edwards,  Nathan 
Morgan,  Mr.  Roberts  and  Colonel  Morgan. 

A  wonderful  dance  was  planned  for  the  evening,  at 
which  old  and  young  took  part.  On  the  whole  it  was  one 
of  the  most  important  social  functions  of  the  season. 
Women  dressed  in  the  fashion  of  the  day.  The  men  with 
high  top  boots,  well  oiled,  and  high  top  hats,  filled  with 
about  a  pint  of  old  fashioned  apple  brandy,  danced  the 
old  fashioned  clog  dance,  the  Virginia  reel,  and  many  of 
the  old  time  dances.  Such  a  ball  now  would  amuse  our 
modern  boys  and  bobbed  haired  girls  as  much  as  our  girls 
would  shock  the  old  Whig  by  the  modern  dress  fashions. 
The  Whigs  went  home  greatly  encouraged  over  the  cele- 
bration. 

By  1840  the  jail  in  Fredonia  was  in  a  dilapidated  con- 
dition. The  logs  were  out  of  it  on  one  side.  The  board 
of  county  commissioners  ordered  Ben  Stevens,  who  was  the 
county  agent,  to  see  if  the  jail  could  not  be  repaired.    The 


106  HISTORY  OP  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

expense  would  be  considerable.    Prisoners  were  guarded  in 
the  jail  night  and  day.     Shall  a  new  jail  be  built? 

A  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives. Mr.  Edwards,  who  was  our  representative,  called 
up  Bill  No.  412  on  Wednesday  morning,  February  8,  1843. 
There  were  52  ayes  and  20  noes.  Later  the  bill  was  lost  but 
House  Bill  No.  146  passed  and  was  referred  to  a  select 
committee  composed  of  Sands,  our  senator,  and  Cotton  and 
Akers.  The  committee  reported  the  bill  successful  and  it 
was  passed. 

The  bill  reads: 

"1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Indiana 
that  John  S.  Davis  of  Floyd  County,  Sam  Hagin  of  Wash- 
ington County,  W.  S.  Lamb  of  Perry  County,  Arthur  J. 
Simpson  of  Orange  County,  and  John  H.  Smith  of  Spencer 
County  shall  be  a  committee  to  relocate  the  seat  of  justice 
in  Crawford  County. 

"2.  That  the  committee,  or  a  majority  of  the  commit- 
tee, shall  meet  at  Fredonia  on  the  first  Monday  in  March, 
1843,  or  at  any  other  time  a  majority  may  agree.  After 
being  duly  sworn  said  committee  shall  proceed  to  select 
a  new  seat  of  justice  for  the  county. 

"3.  The  committee  is  authorized  to  receive  donations 
and  gifts  toward  helping  with  the  building. 

"4.  The  committee  is  authorized  to  receive  deeds  for 
the  lots  on  which  to  build  the  house  and  jail. 

"The  committee  is  requested  to  notify  the  re- 
corder when  it  has  selected  a  place  and  a  record  of  the 
matter  made. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES  107 

"6.  The  committee  is  empowered  to  secure  a  room  for 
holding  court,  the  expense  of  which  is  to  be  paid  by  the 
county  till  the  new  court  house  is  complete. 

"7.  The  board  doing  county  business  is  authorized  to 
pay  the  men  for  their  services. 

"8.  The  board  doing  county  business  is  authorized  to 
appoint  three  men  to  oversee  the  construction  of  the 
house. ' ' 

The  committee  met  and  after  due  consideration  selected 
Leavenworth  for  the  seat  of  justice. 

Elam  Wiley  and  others,  among  whom  was  a  Mr.  Hauser, 
volunteered  to  build  the  house,  while  the  board  appointed 
D.  M.  Stewart,  William  Highfill  and  T.  W.  Fox  to  super- 
intend the  construction  of  the  building.  At  the  same 
meeting  Seth  M.  Leavenworth  was  ordered  to  get  the  sur- 
veyor to  run  off  the  lots  on  which  the  court  house  was  to 
be  built. 

The  lots  were  selected  back  near  the  hill  at  Nelson 
Street.  The  new  house  was  built  of  brick.  It  was  two 
stories  high  and  well  constructed.  Of  course  the  citizens 
soon  grew  tired  of  the  donation  work.  Then  we  find  the 
board  at  their  June  meeting  in  1844  ordering  County 
Agent  Ben  Stevens  to  sue  Elam  Wiley  on  his  bond  to  force 
him  to  build  the  court  house  and  the  jail. 

The  first  session  of  the  court  which  was  held  in  Leaven- 
worth was  the  June  session  in  1843. 

At  this  meeting  the  county  board  fixed  the  boundaries 
of  all  townships.  With  few  exceptions  they  are  about  like 
they  are  at  present. 


108  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  poor  people  throughout  the  county  had  been  cared 
for  by  certain  men  whom  the  board  of  commissioners  ap- 
pointed. Such  persons  were  called  overseers  of  the  poor. 
They  took  the  men  and  women  and  whatever  others  were 
assigned  to  them  to  their  houses,  clothed  and  fed  them  and 
at  the  close  of  the  quarter  a  bill  for  their  services  was 
handed  in.  Cotton  Tower,  who  lived  about  four  miles  out 
on  the  Leavenworth  and  Paoli  road,  was  granted  $13.80  for 
keeping  Rachel  Shaffer,  a  pauper,  three  months.  The 
insane  and  the  feeble-minded  were  treated  rather  well  as 
could  be  expected  in  those  days. 

John  Real  in  March,  1842,  presented  a  petition  to  the 
board  praying  that  a  new  township  be  made  out  of  Whisky 
Run  and  Sterling  townships.  The  board  refused  the 
request  but  the  next  day  the  members  granted  the  petition. 
The  board  ordered  that  all  land  in  the  following :  Begin- 
ning at  northeast  corner  of  section  32,  run  west  6  miles, 
south  2  miles,  east  2  miles,  south  2  miles,  east  3  miles,  north 
2  miles,  east  1  mile  and  north  2  miles.  The  territory  was 
made  into  a  new  township  which  was  called  Liberty.  The 
elections  were  to  be  held  at  Big  Springs  in  that  township. 

At  the  March  term  of  court  a  Mr.  Thomasson  appeared 
with  an  order  against  the  county,  principal  and  interest, 
all  told,  amounting  to  $2,728.50.  This  order  had  been 
given  to  Mr.  Thomasson  on  May  13,  1822.  It  was  No.  305. 
He  had  just  bought  the  north  one-half  of  the  'south  one- 
half  of  section  16,  township  3  south,  range  2  east,  and 
wished  to  donate  it  to  the  county  as  a  permanent  home  for 
poor  people.  The  board  accepted  his  generous  offer,  and 
proceeded,  too,  to  pay  him  for  the  order  No.  305.  The 
board  ordered  issued  to  Mr.  Thomasson  orders  of  $20  each 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES  109 

to  the  amount  of  $1,360  with  interest,  and  other  orders 
till  the  old  order  was  paid. 

The  people  appreciated  the  generous  offer  of  that  large 
tract  of  land  and  the  commissioners  ordered  Mr.  Samuel 
Lathrop  to  take  charge  of  the  land  and  rent  it  out,  if  any 
was  suitable  for  renting.  The  above  tract  of  land  was 
acquired  in  1839. 

The  next  thing  was  to  secure  money  to  construct  the 
house.  So  in  September,  1840,  Daniel  Mcintosh,  W.  R. 
Reynolds  and  Sam  Lathrop  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  solicit  funds  for  the  erection  of  the  house. 

January,  1841,  Sam  Lathrop  was  authorized  to  con- 
tract with  any  one  for  the  construction  of  the  house  on  the 
poor  farm.  The  board  doing  county  business  for  the  year 
1840  and  1841  was  composed  of  these  men :  John  Haskins, 
Joel  Ray,  Joseph  Jones,  Halley  Goad,  M.  C.  Gaither,  F. 
Trisbie,  Philip  Crecelius,  John  Landiss,  Absalom  Black 
and  Zebulum  Leavenworth.  The  above  board  selected 
Mr.  Lathrop  to  contract  with  men  to  build  the  house. 

In  March  a  contract  was  awarded  to  E.  E.  Morgan, 
Thomas  Morgan  and  N.  Morgan  to  construct  the  house  for 
the  sum  of  $360.  The  house  must  be  ready  by  October, 
1841. 

A  contract  was  made  with  Martin  Scott  to  take  charge 
of  the  farm.  He  was  to  notify  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
in  the  county  and  request  them  to  bring  all  the  poor  people 
into  the  house  by  May  1,  1842.  Mr.  Scott  was  a  good  sub- 
stantial man  and  did  the  best  lie  could  to  make  a  success 
of  the  undertaking. 

September,  1841,  John  Barnet,  James  Wood  and 
Zebulum  Leavenworth  were  appointed  a  committee  to  visit 


110  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  poor  farm  and  inspect  the  work  and  the  care  of  the 
inmates  who  were  already  there.  The  committee  went  on 
September  18,  1841. 

William  Stevens  was  selected  in  June,  1844,  to  deaden 
the  trees  on  ten  acres  of  land  on  the  high  ground  east  of 
the  house.  Absalom  Black  was  appointed  manager  of  the 
poor  farm  when  Martin  Scott's  time  was  out.  He  took  up 
the  duties  in  January,  1842.  At  the  close  of  the  year  he 
was  appointed  for  another  year.  In  1845  David  Dodson 
was  ordered  to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  contract  with 
William  Stevens  and  the  poor  farm.  Matters  drifted  along 
fairly  well  with  the  poor  farm,  but  in  March,  1846,  Martin 
Scott  was  ordered  to  sue  the  contractor  who  had  agreed 
to  make  the  rails  for  the  poor  farm  and  then  he  was  to 
complete  the  fencing  of  the  farm. 

On  March  7,  1848,  a  large  number  of  citizens  of  Ohio 
township  petitioned  the  board  praying  that  a  new  township 
may  be  made  out  of  Ohio  township.  Being  fully  advised 
in  the  matter  the  board  decided  that  their  petition  ought 
to  be  granted.     The  new  township  was  called  Boone. 

Sam  Clark,  who  was  agent  for  the  seminary  fund,  was 
authorized  to  rent  the  rooms  at  $2  per  week  for  lower  floor, 
and  $1.50  per  room  for  upper  floor.  Mr.  Clark  was  also 
county  sheriff.  It  became  his  painful  duty  to  hang  James 
Fields  in  1846. 

In  the  forties  so  much  confusion  has  occurred  because 
stock  ran  out.  Men  marked  the  ears  of  the  calf  or  hog. 
Henry  Hatfield  states  that  his  mark  for  cattle,  hogs  and 
sheep  was  a  crop  and  a  slit  in  the  left  ear.  The  above 
was  recorded  January  16,  1831.  Isaac  Miller  stated  that 
his  ear  mark  was  a  smooth  crop  of  the  left  ear  and  a  hole 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES  111 

bored  through  the  left  ear.  The  date  of  the  indenture  was 
January  25,  1847. 

"The  Old  Adoption  Book"  in  the  recorder's  office 
shows  how  boys  and  girls  were  bound  out.    Here  is  one : 

"This  indenture  witnesses  the  fact  that  Vanetta 
Thomas,  age  10  years,  on  January  25,  1832,  is  bound  out 
to  Archibald  Sloan  until  she  becomes  eighteen  years  old. 
He  must  educate  her  and  see  that  she  is  dressed  decently, 
and  fed  well.  She,  on  the  other  hand,  agrees  to  be  saving 
with  Mr.  Sloan's  food  and  economic  like  his  own  children 
might  be." 

The  following  queer  items  may  be  of  interest  to  the 
reader :  Ordered  that  the  inspectors  of  the  election  of  1848 
should  be  paid  62^2  cents  each  for  his  services. 

The  receipts  from  all  taxes  in  June,  1847,  were 
$1,628.23;  the  expenses  for  the  same  year,  June  1,  1846,  to 
June  1,  1847,  were  $1,391.19.  That  left  a  balance  of 
$237.04.  How  does  that  compare  with  your  auditor's 
budget  for  1924? 

In  setting  the  rate  of  tax  and  license  one  finds  this 
table  for  June,  1848: 

To  sell: 

Whisky    $  15  for  a  year 

Clocks    25  for  a  year 

Run  shows   25  for  a  year 

Run   ferries    3  for  a  year 

Brokers    100  for  a  year 

At  the  September  meeting  in  1847  John  W.  Rice  was 
appointed  county  surveyor  for  a  term  of  three  years,  but 


112  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

later  he  resigned  and  George  C.  Leavitt  was  elected  and 
was  sworn  into  office. 

For  many  years  the  travelers  on  the  roads  running 
west  from  Leavenworth  were  complaining  about  the  Indian 
Hollow.    For  the  benefit  of  the  citizens  the  board  ordered 

a  bridge  built  there  on  September  ,  1846.     The  work 

went  along  slowly.  Reuben  Whitten  was  awarded  the  con- 
tract, but  the  board  allowed  him  more  time  when  he  did 
not  get  it  completed  on  time.  The  interest  on  the  three 
per  cent,  fund  was  ordered  to  be  used  on  the  payment  for 
the  bridge  on  January  17,  1848.  The  board  had  allowed 
in  June,  1848,  $90  to  help  pay  for  the  bridge. 

On  January  17,  1848,  occurred  the  death  of  Samuel 
Sands  who  was  the  clerk  of  the  county.  The  board  ordered 
William  Mansfield  to  act  till  the  vacancy  was  filled  and 
stated  further:  "Whereas,  God  in  His  infinite  wisdom 
saw  fit  to  call  from  our  midst  by  death  our  worthy  friend 
and  clerk,  Samuel  Sands,  who  departed  this  life  January 
12,  1847 ;  therefore,  resolve  unanimously  that  it  is  with  the 
greatest  profound  regret  we  heard  of  his  death.  That  a 
copy  of  this  be  sent  to  his  family  and  his  friends." 

The  new  jail  which  the  men  had  been  building  for  some 
time  was  now  complete.  The  commissioners  received  it 
formally  in  September,  1845.  The  town  trustees  turned 
the  jail  over  to  the  county.  Then  they  let  the  county 
complete  the  jail.  So  the  board  ordered  iron  grates  to  be 
put  into  the  windows  of  the  jail.  Each  grate  was  to  be 
one  inch  thick  and  set  vertically.  Soon  after  that  Sam 
Clark,  who  was  the  county  sheriff,  had  a  bunk  made  in  the 
jail  and  eave  troughs  put  up. 

For  many  years  the  people  wished  a  bridge  built  over 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES  113 

Little  Blue.  The  Leavenworth  and  Rome  road  crossed 
that  stream.  Many  times  during  the  year  back  water  from 
the  river  was  over  the  ford  so  that  one  could  not  cross  the 
stream.    In  November,  1837,  L.  Frisbie,  William  M.  Taylor 

and  James were  a  committee  to  select  a  site  for  the 

building  of  this  bridge  over  Little  Blue.  "When  the  board 
met  in  January,  1838,  the  committee  reported  that  the 
bridge  ought  to  be  built  at  the  falls  of  Little  Blue  River. 

In   May,   1838,    Charles   Springer   and  Ben  were 

appointed  to  solicit  subscriptions  for  the  bridge.  These 
men  might  be  able  to  coax  the  settlers  to  donate  so  many 
days'  work  or  materials.  The  board  ordered  the  bridge 
built  at  the  May  term  of  the  court.  William  Good  was  to 
supervise  the  construction  of  the  bridge  at  the  Falls  of 
Little  Blue. 

In  September,  1847,  the  board  ordered  that  the  auditor 
hold  back  $600  to  build  a  bridge  at  the  falls  of  Little  Blue. 
Good,  Thorn  and  Leavenworth  were  to  build  this  bridge. 

The  Board  of  Review  of  Crawford  County  was  organ- 
ized in  June,  1848.  The  board  met  at  the  court  house  in 
Leavenworth  and  proceeded  to  investigate  the  assessments 
of  the  different  men: 

Name  Raised  Lowered 

James   Baker    $50 

James  Allen    50 

Andrew  Beers  100 

Peter   Byerly    50 

Mason   Bird    100 

Hiram   Benham    200 

Albert  Brown   50 


114         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Name  Raised  Lowered 

James  Black    30 

Eli  Coleman   25 

Albert  Conn    60 

Sam  Clark  50 

Levi    Clendening 30 

James  Davidson   100 

David  C.  Dodd    25 

John  Edward   100 

Seth  Leavenworth    250 

John  McCullnm   5 

Michael  Owerbacker one  poll 

H.  D.  Rothrock   500 

Lewis  Shields   250 

Martin    Scott    50 

Leavenworth  Steam  Mill   400 

Samuel    Sands    300 

William  Holicroft    100 

Gorry  Jones    5 

Sam  Kemp    5 

Isaac   Myers    50 

Walker  Main    30 

Nicholas   Peckinpaugh    400 

A.  C.  Pierson   20 

Jesse  Riddle   200 

Henry   Ritchie    20 

John   Stone    200 

A.  B.  Tower   15 

Jacob   Wiseman    80 

Elias  Bye    75 

Leonard  Shaw    150 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES  115 

Name  Raised  Lowered 

Charles  W.  Tower  50 

John  Tadlock   50 

Squire  Weathers    50 

Annual   Wright    50 

Elam  Wiley    50 

W.  H.  Green 15 

Caldwell  and  Co 400 

McFarber  and  Co 1,200 

John   Carnes    15 

James  W.  Gaither   240 

William   Goldman    100 

David  Hedden    

Liblens  Frisbres  (?)    3,000 

Reuben  Funk   50 

Martin   Hanger    150 

James  Mcintosh 

Elijah  Weathers    100 

George  Walts    60 

James  Batman    30 

Sam  Grimes    50 

David  Lambdin    50 

A.  S.  McCarty 

Michael   Real 5 

James  Tadlock   45 

Amos  Blunk   300 

William  Laswell 

William  Patton    50 

John  Butt   40 

Sam   Doolittle    5 

Gabriel   Good    20 


116  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Name  Raised  Lowered 

Martin   Goldman    50 

John   Patrick    15 

John  Smith 30 

Richard  Weathers   5 

Enoch   Weathers    40 

Thomas    Stephenson    5 

The  old  squire's  docket  of  Leavenworth  on  page  278 
has  this  article:  "On  March  13,  1849,  this  day  appeared 
before  me  David  J.  Thurston  and  reported  that  he  had 
taken  up  five  head  of  hogs,  one  large  spotted  barrow, 
marked  with  a  crop  from  the  left  ear,  and  three  spotted 
shoats  not  marked.  Joseph  Heath  and  Lemuel  Landrus 
examined  the  hogs  and  appraised  their  value  at  $3.00  and 
the  shoats  at  $1.25  each.        Addison  Williams,  J.  P." 

Also  John  Sturgeon  had  taken  up  a  stray  brindle  cow 
marked  with  a  square  crop  on  the  right  ear  with  a  hole 
through  it.  Nathan  Sturgeon  and  David  Hawkins  ad- 
judged her  to  be  worth  $8. 

These  are  just  a  few  cases  to  which  many  others  could 
be  added. 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  in  the  late  forties  were 
handicapped  in  their  sports  by  certain  laws.  In  June, 
1848,  one  finds  that  John  Keys,  who  made  a  bet  on  a  horse 
race,  was  fined  one  dollar  and  costs. 

The  board  doing  business  in  June,  1848,  consisted  of 
these  men: 

Jennings  Township — Elijah  Sabin. 
Boone   Township — William  Good. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES  117 

Liberty  Township — William  B.  Johnson. 
Ohio  Township — Jeremiah  Lynch. 
Patoka  Township — F.  F.  Tucker. 
Sterling  Township — Zachariah  Brown. 
Union  Township — Alfred  Williams. 
Whisky  Run  Township — John  Cooper. 

The  campaign  of  1848  was  rather  warm  in  old  Craw- 
ford. Taylor  was  on  the  Whig  ticket  and  Louis  Cass  was 
on  the  Democratic  ticket.  When  the  vote  was  all  collected 
Taylor  had  520  and  Cass  397.  Taylor's  majority  was  123. 
The  same  year  and  the  year  before  important  elections 
were  held  relative  to  taxing  our  people  for  schools.  These 
elections  were  hotly  contested  and  the  free  school  law  was 
defeated  by  a  large  majority.  Against  the  free  school  law, 
733  votes;  for  the  free  school  law,  381.  The  people  of 
Crawford  County  wanted  schools  but  they  did  not  want 
free  schools.  Free  schools  were  too  free  for  them.  Then 
many  believed  in  local  option. 

In  June,  1848,  James  B.  Davidson  was  paid  $5  for  a 
worthless  bank  note  which  he  had  received  while  he  was 
county  treasurer  from  some  man  for  his  taxes.  The  note 
was  on  some  bank  in  Cincinnati,  but  it  had  failed.  The 
board  ordered  the  president  to  destroy  the  note.  Before 
the  new  constitution  state  banks  issued  notes,  but  if  the 
bank  failed,  then  the  notes  were  worthless.  This  poor 
method  of  banking  led  Congress  to  pass  the  National  Bank 
Law  so  if  a  bank  failed  the  notes  were  still  good.  This 
law  was  enacted  in  1862. 

The  Mexican  War  began  in  1846.  Indiana  furnished 
several  regiments  of  soldiers  but  one  can  not  find  who  went 


118  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

from  Crawford  County.  The  writer  visited  the  Adjutant 
General's  office  in  Indianapolis,  but  the  names  are  all  listed 
together.  One  regrets  very  much  that  the  names  of  these 
boys  who  fought  so  bravely  and  always  so  honorably  can 
not  have  credit  done  to  their  names.  Mr.  McDonald,  of 
Taswell,  furnished  the  writer  a  letter  which  one  of  the 
McDonald  boys  had  written  back  to  his  people  when  he 
was  on  the  firing  line  in  Mexico. 

The  soldiers  from  Indiana  were  partly  disgraced  at  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista  by  the  action  of  William  A.  Bowles, 
who  ordered  his  men  to  retreat.  Many  years  later  he  be- 
came a  traitor  to  the  United  States  Government  in  the 
Civil  War.  He  was  caught,  sentenced  to  be  hanged,  but 
was  spared. 

MAGNOLIA 

Magnolia  was  located  about  four  miles  northwest  of 
Leavenworth  on  the  Hartford  road.  Addison  Williams 
bought  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  14  in  township  3 
south,  range  1  east  on  February  19,  1820.  He  tried  hard 
to  plat  the  land  into  towns  and  then  to  sell  the  town  lots. 
The  plat  of  New  Haven  was  made  by  Mr.  Williams  but 
there  were  no  lots  sold.  Then  he  platted  Magnolia  and 
filed  the  plat  in  the  recorder's  office  at  Fredonia  July  4, 
1838.  Magnolia  soon  had  a  still  house,  a  store,  and  a  black- 
smith shop.  By  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  a  grist  mill 
was  built  and  a  postoffice  was  established. 

Mr.  Williams  worked  hard  to  build  up  the  town.  About 
1856  a  school  was  established  on  the  high  hill  west  of  the 
town.  This  was  a  frame  building.  The  district  was  num- 
ber four.     Wandering  ministers  of  the  gospel  came  into 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  FORTIES  119 

the  town  occasionally  and  held  church  services  for  the 
people.  The  Hartford  and  Leavenworth  road  ran  through 
Magnolia. 

The  sale  of  the  town  lots  was  advertised  in  the  Leaven- 
worth Arena  in  1838.  Williams  advertised  that  every 
tenth  lot  was  to  be  given  for  public  schools. 


CHAPTER    VII 

ALTON 

On  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  Ohio,  just  a  few  rods 
below  where  Little  Blue  River  runs  into  the  Ohio,  lies  the 
little  town  of  Alton.  The  plat  of  the  town  was  made  by 
James  Gaither  and  recorded  in  the  recorder's  office  at 
Fredonia  July  5,  1838.  For  a  long  time  this  town  was 
called  Nebraska;  the  name  of  Alton  has  been  used  since 
1850.  The  town  never  grew  very  large.  Probably  150 
people  was  the  largest  number  which  ever  lived  there  at 
any  one  time. 

In  May,  1839,  Asa  Kemp  was  granted  a  license  to  keep 
a  grocery  and  sell  liquor  in  Alton.  The  fee  paid  then  was 
$25.  The  next  year  Henry  Fullenwider  was  granted  a 
license  to  keep  a  store  in  Alton  for  one  year.  In  May, 
1840,  William  Roberts  opened  a  store  in  Alton. 

The  first  citizens  to  buy  lots  in  Alton  were  J.  H.  Mey- 
lon,  Joshua  Bennett,  R.  T.  Williams,  Jacob  Boone,  James 
Riley,  Levi  Brooks,  John  Parr,  William  H.  Conrad,  James 
Clark,  Nicholas  Peckinpaugh  and  Ezra  Carberry.  When 
Boone  township  was  organized  in  1848,  Green  McRoberts 
was  made  inspector  of  the  elections.  The  polling  place 
was  Nebraska.  The  state  law  of  1848  changed  the  name 
to  Alton.    By  1850  there  were  about  150  people  living  in 

120 


ALTON  121 

Alton.     There  was  a  school  being  taught  in  Alton  in  the 
fifties. 

The  election  to  determine  whether  Indiana  should  have 
free  schools  was  an  interesting  one.  The  old  poll  book 
for  Alton  and  Boone  townships  shows  that  these  votes 
were  cast :  Jacob  Miller,  James  Riley,  John  Southards, 
David  G.  Kline,  James  Riddle,  Amos  Butt,  John  Waddle, 
William  Seaton,  William  Dean,  Elisha  Peckinpaugh,  Will- 
iam Good,  James  Johnson,  J.  J.  Main,  Machrum  Main,  Sam 
Heath,  Robert  Levi,  Jacob  Miller,  William  Lake,  Levi 
Riddle,  Ezra  Carberry,  John  Parr,  J.  W.  Guthrie,  Ben 
Cole,  Peter  Carberry,  William  Wilbur,  Sam  Johnson,  John 
Sheckel,  Silas  Sheckel,  John  Brown,  William  R.  Hollcroft, 
Thomas  Chanley,  Shadrock  Clark,  Cornelius,  Abel  Heath, 
James  W.  Gaither,  Sr.,  Harrison  Deen,  Abraham  Osborn, 
Isaac  Myers,  Asa  Kemp,  John  H.  Borer,  Moses  Lake, 
Robert  H.  Fullenwider,  George  Heath,  Green  Kellums, 
Benjamin  N.  Hollcroft,  James  E.  Exline,  William  Giffer, 
Charles  S.  .Myers,  Clayborn  A.  Pierson,  J.  R.  Ridge,  J.  H. 
Meylin,  William  H.  Fullenwider,  Thomas  Gaither,  James 
A.  McGann,  Daniel  Wilbur,  William  H.  Lowe,  T.  H.  Cum- 
mins, Stephen  Deen,  Jr.,  D.  W.  Newman,  G.  M.  Robert, 
Jacob  Goldman,  Henry  Fullenwider,  H.  B.  Meylin,  R.  B. 
Lease,  E.  P.  T.  Hollcraft,  A.  K.  Rice,  D.  T.  Wilbur,  A.  H. 
Jones,  Elisha  Springer,  John  Sheckels,  Jr. 

D.  W.  Newman  and  James  A.  McCann,  Clerks. 

At  the  date  of  May  24,  1907,  J.  J.  Ridge,  J.  W.  Gaither 
and  John  Borer  were  still  living.  Mr.  John  Hollcraft,  of 
Alton,  sent  the  old  poll-book  to  the  editor  of  the  English 
News  in  1907. 

The  board  of  county  commissioners  at  their  September 


122         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

session  ordered  an  election  held  in  the  town  of  Alton  on 
September  28,  1872,  to  determine  the  question  of  whether 
the  incorporation  of  Alton  should  be  made,  at  which  elec- 
tion a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  was  in  favor  of  incor- 
porating the  town.  The  board  of  county  commissioners, 
therefore,  ordered  that  the  following  territory  in  Boone 
township  be  declared  an  incorporated  town  under  the 
name  of  the  town  of  Alton.  Beginning  at  station  one  on 
the  Ohio  River  at  low  water  mark  where  the  section  line 
divides  sections  32  and  33,  township  4,  south,  range  one 
east  strikes  the  river,  thence  up  the  Ohio  river  with  its 
meandering  to  the  mouth  of  Little  Blue  River,  thence  up 
Little  Blue  River  to  the  mouth  of  Mill  Creek;  thence  up 
Mill  Creek  to  the  nearest  point  to  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  southwest  one-fourth  of  the  northwest  fourth  of  section 
33,  township  four  south,  range  one  east,  thence  on  a  direct 
line  to  said  corner,  thence  west  to  the  west  line  of  that 
section,  thence  south  to  the  southwest  corner  of  a  forty- 
acre  tract,  thence  west  and  south  and  up  the  Ohio  to  the 
starting  point.  The  above  tract  of  land  included  about 
86  acres  in  all  belonging  to  B.  J.  Parr. 

The  people  of  Alton  have  always  been  friendly  toward 
education.  At  one  time  the  town  maintained  one  of  the 
best  high  schools  of  the  county.  In  1902  Henry  Mock 
was  employed  as  principal.  Later  Curry  V.  Watson  acted 
as  principal.  When  the  state  increased  the  salaries  it 
became  impossible  to  keep  up  the  high  school. 

ALTON   SINCE   THE  WAR 

James  Riley  on  June  4,  1860,  was  granted  a  license  to 
sell  liquor  in  the  town  of  Alton  for  one  year.    The  fee  paid 


ALTON  123 

in  those  days  at  Alton  was  $50.  At  the  close  of  the  year 
he  was  given  another  license  for  the  next  year.  He  was 
put  under  $500  bond  which  was  signed  by  James  Riley, 
Perry  Riddle  and  John  Atwood.  The  license  was  renewed 
again  in  1863. 

In  1865,  when  the  board  met  in  June,  A.  R.  Hazen  was 
granted  a  license  to  sell  liquor  in  Alton  for  one  year. 
James  Riley,  who  had  been  here  some  time,  went  to  Leaven- 
worth. John  B.  Moore  took  out  license  in  his  stead  and 
sold  liquors  in  the  town  of  Alton  on  September  4,  1865. 

Later  James  H.  Mathews  was  granted  a  license  to  sell 
liquor  on  June  2,  1868. 

John  Atwood  was  granted  a  license  to  sell  liquor  in 
the  town  of  Alton  for  one  year  on  September  6,  1867. 

September  4,  1874,  John  Atwood,  who  had  been  a 
saloon  keeper  for  many  years  in  Alton,  made  application 
for  a  license  to  sell  liquor  at  Alton.  A  petition  with 
twenty-two  names  was  filed  in  his  behalf,  but  James  M. 
Williams  filed  a  remonstrance  against  him  which  had 
more  names  on  it.  Atwood 's  petition  did  not  contain  the 
names  of  a  majority  of  the  citizens.  He  had  also  been 
guilty  of  violating  the  law.  He  had  even  been  convicted 
in  court  June,   1874,  for  selling  liquor  to  a  drunk  man. 

Atwood  filed  a  bond  on  which  one  finds  the  names  of 
John  Atwood,  Frederick  Zeyhler,  William  Culver,  Henry 
Steinball,  John  Kemp,  George  Sheckell,-  George  Pearson, 
Ab.  Kemp,  Thomas  J.  Railes,  Henry  Sigler,  but  the  board 
rejected  Williams'  petition  and  granted  Atwood  a  license. 

The  town  of  Alton  never  grew  very  fast.  Lycurgus 
Harrison  and  Peckinpaugh  built  their  sawmill  here,  thus 
forming    Peckinpaugh,    Harrison    and    Company.      They 


124  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

manufactured  toys  of  all  kinds.  Harrison  lived  till  the 
summer  of  1925,  when  he  died  suddenly. 

The  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  built  a  hall  there  in 
the  town. 

One  of  the  oldest  business  men  in  Alton  is  John  Holl- 
craft.  He  is  related  to  the  Hollcraft  family,  of  whom  Mr. 
Nathan  Hollcraft  was  one.  At  date  of  writing  he  is  still 
in  business  on  Front  Street.  His  son,  Temple  II.  Holl- 
craft, has  a  position  to  teach  mathematics  in  a  college  in 
New  York.  The  Hollcrafts  have  won  the  respect  and  con- 
fidence of  all  the  good  men  and  women   of  the   county. 

J.  N.  Neville,  who  was  a  barber  of  the  little  town,  may 
be  able  to  trace  his  descendants  back  to  the  Nevilles  who 
figured  so  gallantly  with  General  Washington  and  with 
Green  in  the  Jerseys  and  Carolinas  during  the  Rev- 
olutionary War. 

A.  S.  Roberts  was  a  druggist  of  the  town  many  years. 
The  flouring  mill  was  owned  by  Walker  and  Fancher  who 
did  a  big  business  in  the  eighties  and  nineties.  The  under- 
taker was  John  S.  Williams,  and  J.  W.  Wood  was  the 
leading  carpenter. 

The  Alton  school  until  a  long  time  after  the  war  was 
a  frame  building  which  would  seat  about  sixty  people. 
The  old  house  is  still  standing  near  the  river  where 
it  has  been  moved.  The  new  house  was  a  two-story  frame 
structure  which  was  built  on  a  beautiful  location  back  from 
the  river  on  high  ground. 

The  Indiana  Gazetteer  for  1895  gives  the  following  in- 
formation :  Population  of  the  town  was  300.  James  W. 
Harvey  was  postmaster.  J.  T.  Boyd  had  a  general  store. 
H.  T.  Carr  was  proprietor  of  a  saloon.     David  Deuschar 


ALTON  125 

was  a  jeweler.  Maude  Emmick  was  a  milliner.  David 
Franklin  was  a  shoemaker.  W.  H.  Fullenwider  and 
Brothers  ran  a  big  sawmill.  Martin  T.  Hanger  was  a  car- 
penter. Mamie  Hardin  was  a  music  teacher.  Josiah  Har- 
vey was  a  shoemaker.  Sydney  Hatfield  was  a  butcher. 
W.  R.  Hollcroft  and  son  ran  a  general  store.  D.  F.  Jen- 
kins ran  a  livery  stable  and  was  wharf  master.  George 
M.  King  owned  the  general  store  west  of  the  Methodist 
church.  Oliver  Morton  Landrus  was  the  blacksmith  of 
the  town.  H.  B.  Meylin,  who  was  one  of  the  oldest  citizens, 
was  justice  of  the  peace.  Meylin  and  Fullenwider  ran  the 
hotel.  Joseph  Myers  was  the  town  physician.  Peckin- 
paugh,  Harrison  and  Company  were  wagon  makers  and 
sawmill  men. 

At  the  present  day,  1925,  not  many  of  these  men  and 
women  are  in  Alton.  Joseph  Myers  is  still  practicing 
medicine  at  Alton. 

The  Alton  baseball  team  of  1897  was  one  of  the  best 
in  southern  Indiana.  The  battery  was  Burton  Parr  and 
Lige  Parr.  Charlie  Wood  was  one  of  the  outfielders. 
Mort  Landrus,  Bill  Purcell  and  Jack  Purcell  are  well 
remembered  for  their  hard  hitting. 

The  people  of  Alton  and  its  vicinity  became  interested 
in  a  canning  factory  a  few  years  ago,  but  the  factory  was 
not  a  success.  The  farmers  who  took  stock  lost  heavily 
in  the  failure  of  the  company. 

To-day  not  much  business  is  going  on  in  Alton.  The 
town  has  lost  much  of  its  population.  Yet  one  can  dream 
of  the  days  of  Jacob  Boone  and  Henry  Fullenwider  and 
the  departed  glories. 

In  the  summer  of  1921  occurred  the  fatal  shooting  of 


126  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Mr.  Sanders,  the  drayman,  by  Joseph  Birkla.  Trouble 
had  existed  between  them  for  some  time.  Sanders  went 
into  Birkla 's  store  to  collect  the  freight  on  July  19,  1921. 
He  was  not  armed  when  he  entered  the  store,  known  as  the 
"Red  Onion  Restaurant."  Trouble  arose  and  Birkla  shot 
him  in  the  arm,  the  second  shot  in  the  hip,  and  one  in  the 
back.  Birkla 's  plea  was  self-defense.  L.  D.  Sanders  stag- 
gered out  of  the  store.  Neighbors  who  heard  the  shots 
ran  to  his  assistance. 

Doctor  Deen  of  Leavenworth,  Doctor  Land  of  Marengo 
and  Doctor  Myers  of  Alton  held  a  council.  They  agreed  to 
send  him  to  the  Louisville  hospital.  The  operation  showed 
an  abdominal  injury  was  the  most  serious  one,  from  which 
he  died  on  Sunday.  The  body  was  brought  home  for 
burial.  Birkla  left  at  once  for  English,  and  the  sheriff 
being  notified,  met  him  on  the  way.  The  case  was  tried 
at  English  in  February,  1922,  under  Judge  Cook.  Brown 
and  Lambdin  defended  Birkla,  while  Weathers  assisted 
County  Prosecutor  Seacat.  Weathers'  plea  was  one  of 
the  strongest  ever  made  in  English,  but  the  jury  acquitted 
Birkla.  He  moved  to  Fredonia  after  a  short  time,  where 
he  engaged  in  mercantile  business.  After  some  time  he 
became  insane  and  was  sent  to  the  asylum. 

Temple  R.  Hollcroft,  who  was  a  little  Alton  school  boy 
in  1901,  composed  the  "following  poem  on  hearing  of  ex- 
President  Harrison's  death.  The  poem  appeared  in  the 
English  News  on  March  16,  1901.     It  read: 

"Ex-President    Harrison   has   just   passed   away, 
His  spirit  has  taken  its  flight  to  God 

And  soon  at  rest  his  body  shall  lay 

In  Crownhill  Cemetery  under  the  sod. 


ALTON  127 

He  was  a  man  of  wonder  and  might; 

His  political  opponents  acknowledged  it  so. 
He  always  stood  for  what  was  right 

And  always  did  justice  to  friend  and  foe." 

>  *.».  -  • 

David  C.  Deuschar,  who  was  one  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants of  Alton,  on  October  11,  1907,  picked  np  a  bottle, 
which  on  examination,  was  found  to  contain  a  lady's 
picture.  He  opened  a  correspondence  with  the  lady  who 
happened  to  be  a  music  teacher.  Later  they  were  married. 
This  bottle  had  drifted  into  Mr.  Deuschar 's  large  store 
room  during  high  water.  While  he  was  engaged  in  clean- 
ing up  the  house  and  yard  he  discovered  the  bottle. 

The  Alton  Lodge  of  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
held  a  great  celebration  at  Alton  on  August  4,  1900,  in  a 
beautiful  beech  grove  north  of  town.  The  Marengo  Band 
drove  over  to  Alton  and  furnished  the  music  for  the  occa- 
sion. Hon.  John  H.  Weathers  delivered  the  address  of  the 
day.  The  good  women  of  the  town  turned  out  with  baskets 
full  of  food  and  a  most  bountiful  dinner  was  served  to  the 
immense  throng  of  people. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


EARLY  ROADS 


The  people  of  Crawford  County  needed  roads  in  those 
early  days.  The  town  of  Fredonia  and  Leavenworth  were 
shipping  points  for  a  wide  range  of  territory,  reaching  out 
as  far  as  Salem,  Bedford,  Petersburg  and  Jasper.  There 
was  a  large  river  traffic  in  those  days. 

Probably  the  oldest  road  in  the  county  was  the  one 
known  as  the  "Governor's  Old  Trail"  or  "Trace"  or 
"Wall."  Governor  Harrison  and  the  settlers  used  this 
road  when  they  traveled  from  Vincennes  to  Corydon.  The 
Old  Trail  was  not  much  of  a  road  then.  Probably  at  first 
it  was  a  blazed  trail  through  the  woods  from  the  "Main 
Trail"  running  from  Vincennes  to  New  Albany.  The 
road  entered  Crawford  County  near  White  Cloud,  passed 
near  Alfred  Bybee's,  passed  near  the  poor  farm  on  Dry 
Run  Creek,  crossed  the  Leavenworth  and  Paoli  road  at  a 
point  where  the  Bushow  school  used  to  be,  in  Liberty 
township,  passed  through  Temple,  thence  northeast  to  the 
Main  Trail.  Parts  of  the  old  road  are  still  in  use,  but 
much  of  it  has  been  closed  during  the  last  seventy-five 
years.  Map  4  will  show  the  location  of  these  roads  as 
well  as  can  be  determined  by  the  information  at  hand. 

Part  of  the  ' '  Wall, ' '  which  was  between  the  Salem  road 
and  the  Leavenworth  and  Paoli  roads,  was  declared  a  state 

128 


EARLY  ROADS  129 

road  by  the  law  of  1836.  Later  it  was  changed  so  as  to 
include  that  part  which  lay  between  the  Paoli  road  and  the 
Jasper  road. 

The  General  Assembly  provided  for  the  Leavenworth 
and  Jasper  road  in  1833.  The  law  designated  that  James 
Glenn  and  Benjamin  Roberson  of  Crawford  County  should 
be  the  two  commissioners  to  view  out  and  locate  the  road. 
This  road  was  built  up  the  river  hill  just  below  the  Big 
Spring  branch  in  Leavenworth.  One  who  has  not  seen 
the  hill  here  can  not  form  any  idea  of  the  amount  of  work 
required  to  construct  such  a  road.  After  about  eighty 
years  traces  of  the  old  road  remain.  After  many  years 
changes  were  made  in  the  road  so  that  this  portion  up  the 
hill  is  no  longer  used.  The  huge  rocks  often  slipped  down 
the  hill,  blocking  the  whole  road  till  it  was  cleared  out. 
This  road  can  be  easily  traced  to-day.  In  certain  localities 
the  road  ran  through  forests.  The  law  required  that  it 
should  be  cleared  of  trees  thirty  feet  wide.  This  cleared 
strip  can  be  plainly  seen  in  certain  parts  near  Leaven- 
worth* 

The  men  met  at  Leavenworth  on  the  first  Monday  in 
March,  1833,  and  proceeded  to  mark  out  the  road.  The 
road  passed  the  Big  Spring,  Mark  Froman's  cross-roads, 
crossed  Turkey  Fork  where  Odle's  mill  was  located,  passed 
Riddle,  Grantsburg,  Mifflin,  and  on  to  Jasper.  The  board 
doing  county  business  ordered  the  road  opened.  There 
was  a  certain  quantity  of  money  from  the  three  per  cent, 
fund  available  for  such  work.  Men  along  the  road  worked 
out  their  part. 

The  same  law  provided  that  Thomas  Fleming,  of  Craw- 
ford, should  act  in  conjunction  with   George   Arnold,   of 


130  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Harrison  County,  and  Joseph  Enlow,  of  Dubois  County,  in 
locating  a  road  from  Milltown  to  Jasper.  These  men  met 
at  Milltown  on  the  first  Monday  in  March,  1833,  and 
located  the  Milltown  and  Jasper  road  as  shown  on  Map  4. 
The  board  doing  county  business  ordered  this  road  opened 
and  paid  for  out  of  the  three  per  cent,  funds,  a  large  part 
of  which  was  due  Crawford  County. 

The  law  further  provided  that  Joseph  Denbo  ,and 
James  Sloan  of  Crawford  County  should  be  appointed 
commissioners  to  help  William  Harris  of  Martin  locate  a 
road  from  Leavenworth  to  Mount  Pleasant  in  Martin 
County.  As  far  as  information  can  be  obtained  this  road 
followed  the  Leavenworth  and  Jasper  road  in  Crawford 
County.  The  survey  was  made  about  May.  William 
Harris  was  the  surveyor.    James  Pitman,  Harrison  Pitman 

aud  Jacob  Denbo  carried  the  chain.     Others  were  

Easles,  John  Duly,  John  Glenn,  Joseph  Kinkaid,  James 
Kellams  and  William  Land. 

Another  very  important  road  which  was  opened  in 
1832  ran  from  New  Albany  to  Leavenworth,  Fredonia, 
through  Perry  County  to  Princeton.  The  road  entered 
Crawford  County  at  Cole's  bridge  over  Big  Blue  River. 
John  L.  Smith  of  Leavenworth,  who  was  appointed  com- 
missioner of  the  road,  did  not  want  the  road  to  run 
through  the  town  of  Fredonia.  He  was  to  locate  the  road 
to  Hallie  Goad's  farm,  about  ten  miles  west  of  Leaven- 
worth. The  friends  of  Fredonia  were  up  in  arms.  The 
matter  was  carried  to  the  General  Assembly  which  enacted 
a  subsequent  law.  A  part  of  that  law  reads  as  follows: 
"And  whereas  much  dissatisfaction  prevails  among  the 
citizens  in  consequence  of  an  expressed  determination  of 


EARLY  ROADS  131 

the  commissioner  to  change  the  road  so  that  it  will  not 
run  through  the  town  of  Fredonia.  On  that  account  be  it 
further  enacted  that  John  L.  Smith  of  Leavenworth  shall 
not  be  permitted  to  make  any  change  so  as  to  prevent  the 
road  from  passing  through  the  town  of  Fredonia,  but  shall 
be  governed  by  the  original  law  which  makes  Fredonia  one 
of  the  points  through  which  the  road  was  to  pass. ' ' 

About  that  time  there  was  a  jealousy  growing  up  be- 
tween Fredonia  and  the  Leavenworth  people  over  the 
county  seat.  Fredonia  had  been  the  seat  of  justice  since 
1822.  The  above  quotation  shows  how  they  prevented 
Leavenworth  from  running  the  road  directly  west  from 
Leavenworth  and  missing  Fredonia  about  two  miles  to  the 
north.  Out  of  justice  to  Smith  one  may  say  that  the  road 
had  to  be  built  out  of  the  way  about  two  miles  to  reach 
Fredonia.     The  map  of  the  road  will  show  this. 

The  Princeton  road  was  changed  much  later.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1840,  a  new  road  was  located  from  Leavenworth  to 
Solomon  D.  Esarey's  home  in  Perry  County.  The  field 
notes  of  the  above  road  read :  ' '  The  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  dated  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1839,  came  here  to  locate  a  road  to  Solomon  D. 
Esarey's  farm.  They  started  from  the  water  at  Nelson 
Street  and  followed  the  street  to  Front  Street,  thence 
around  the  Big  Spring  Branch  to  the  Fredonia  road,  down 
the  Fredonia  road  to  within  ten  or  twelve  rods  of  Mason 
Bird's  home,  across  his  meadow  to  the  Princeton  road 
just  south  of  an  old  deserted  cabin,  thence  with  said  road 
about  two  miles  to  a  certain  poplar  tree,  about  forty  rods 
east  of  the  line  dividing  section  4  and  5  in  town  4  south, 
range  one  east,  thence  running  a  nearly  southwest  direc- 


132  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

tion,  leaving  Jacobs'  and  Abraham  Wiseman's  farms  on 
the  north,  thence  to  Little  Blue  River,  thence  on  southwest 
fork  of  West  Fork  to  Catherine  Davy's  hollow  and  up  that 
hollow  to  William  Gibson's  farm  on  the  hill,  and  from 
there  to  Esarey's  farm  in  Perry  County.  Sam  Ewing  and 
Mason  Bird  were  the  commissioners  to  survey  the  road, 
October  30,  1839. 

One  may  trace  the  Leavenworth  and  Salem  road  on  the 
map.  The  General  Assembly  enacted  a  law  on  January 
8,  1835,  which  provided  for  the  road.  Zebulum  Leaven- 
worth represented  Crawford  County  in  locating  and  mark- 
ing out  the  road  which  ran  through  Milltown,  by  Beck's 
old  mill  to  Salem.  During  the  Civil  War  Captain  Hines 
led  his  band  of  Confederates  down  this  road  to  Leaven- 
worth. The  road  started  at  the  river  in  the  town  of 
Leavenworth,  followed  Nelson  Street  to  the  hill,  then  east 
and  up  the  hill  to  the  west  of  the  Cedar  Cemetery,  through 

the ,  up  Dry  Run  Creek,  passed  Martin  Scott's 

farm,  which  is  now  the  Aniel  Froman  farm,  up  the  hill 
by  the  Catholic  church,  passed  Rogers'  Mill,  up  Big  Blue 
to  Milltown. 

The  Leavenworth  and  Paoli  road  ran  north  from 
Leavenworth.  It  followed  the  Salem  road  to  the  first  little 
creek  at  "Texas,"  turned  up  that  creek  to  the  farm  of 
James  R.  House,  thence  north  to  Isaiah  Henry's  farm, 
north  to  the  Archibald  school  house  where  it  intersected 
the  Fredonia  and  Paoli  road  which  it  followed  to  Pilot 
Knob,  passed  White  Oak  Hill,  what  is  now  Marengo,  and 
thence  to  Paoli.  This  road  is  still  open  as  far  as  Marengo, 
except  in  certain  places  the  road  has  been  re-located  in 
more  recent  times.    At  the  crossing  where  the  Leavenworth 


EARLY  ROADS  133 

and  Marengo  rock  road  crosses  the  railroad  track  near  the 
fair  grounds  at  Marengo  one  can  see  the  old  road  yet  by 
looking  to  the  north  from  the  railroad  track. 

The  Fredonia  and  Rome  road  was  opened  in  1832. 
This  road  was  to  be  twenty  feet  wide.  It  ran  from  Fre- 
donia southwest  to  Perry  County,  passing  out  of  the  county 
about  two  miles  west  of  the  town  of  Alton  and  the  mouth 
of  Little  Blue.  The  road  crossed  Little  Blue  west  of  Fre- 
donia at  what  is  now  called  the  "Old  State  Ford."  When 
Captain  Hines  invaded  the  county  during  the  Civil  War 
he  followed  the  Rome  road  to  Fredonia. 

James  Brown,  Wilson  Brown  and  Martin  Scott  were 
chosen  to  open  the  road  from  Coles'  Ford  to  Leavenworth. 
This  was  part  of  the  New  Albany  and  Leavenworth  and 
Fredonia  road.  The  road  was  to  be  twenty  feet  wide. 
The  men  began  work  on  the  road  about  1827. 

The  Leavenworth  and  Princeton  road  was  being  opened 
by  John  Smith.  Oliver  Tyler  was  the  supervisor  on  that 
road  for  some  time.  His  section  of  the  road  ran  from  the 
Perry  County  line  to  the  Jennings  township  line. 

About  1831  a  new  road  was  blazed  out  from  Fredonia  to 
Mill  Creek.  As  well  as  one  can  discover,  that  road  ran 
from  Fredonia  southwest.  It  crossed  Little  Blue  near 
wThere  the  bridge  at  Marion  Archibald's  farm  is  and  thence 
to  what  is  now  Alton. 

The  laws  of  1838-39  provided  for  a  road  from  Fredonia 
to  Jacob  Reese's  landing  on  the  Ohio  River.  As  best  as 
can  be  determined  this  road  ran  down  the  river  hill  from 
Fredonia,  passed  "Low  Gap  Hollow"  and  went  down  the 
long  hill  to  Schooner  Point.    Thomas  Fox,  Riley  Main  and 


134         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

John  Stone  were  appointed  commissioners  to  mark  out  the 
road.     The  road  ran  by  the  farm  of  Gresham  Brown. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  state  enacted  a  law  in 
1834  declaring  the  Rome  and  Fredonia  road  a  state  road. 
Senator  Thompson  introduced  the  bill  No.  90  which  became 
the  law.  This  was  a  great  help  to  the  county  because  the 
state  could  build  good  roads  while  the  counties  were  hin- 
dered in  their  construction  on  account  of  the  lack  of  funds. 

Many  more  roads  were  opened  up  by  the  county  com- 
missioners in  those  early  days,  one  of  which  ran  from 
Fredonia  to  Mount  Sterling.  It  passed  Sam  Bird's  farm, 
Nathan  Hollcroft's  farm,  the  Pegg  farm,  Brice  Patrick's 
farm,  Henry  J.  Landrus'  old  farm,  Addison  Williams' 
farm,  Dillman  school  house,  thence  west  to  Bogard  Fork 
and  up  the  hill  to  Mount  Sterling.  Zebulum  and  Seth 
Leavenworth  were  overseers  on  this  road. 

Cornelius  Hall  and  William  Riley  were  to  assist  Zebu- 
lum Leavenworth  to  open  up  a  road  from  the  Governor's 
Old  Trail  to  the  "Three  Forks  of  Little  Blue."  One  can 
not  tell  precisely  where  this  road  left  the  "Old  Trail," 
but  it  must  have  been  north  of  Mount  Sterling  a  mile  or 
more.  Later  Hartford  was  built  up  at  the  site  mentioned 
here,  which  in  due  time  became  the  town  of  English. 

Another  historic  old  road  ran  from  near  Sulphur  Well 
to  English,  Union  Chapel,  Grantsburg  and  Paoli.  This 
road  ran  from  Rome  to  Paoli  by  Robert  Yates'  farm.  Rob- 
ert Yates  being  one  of  the  county  commissioners  must  have 
used  his  influence  for  the  road.  Yet  when  the  state  about 
eighty  years  later  built  State  Road  22  and  State  Road  16 
these  roads  followed  the  old  surveys  fairly  well:  Paoli  to 


EARLY  ROADS  135 

English,  Grantsburg  and  Sulphur,  thence  to  Leavenworth 
and  Tell  City. 

The  Leavenworth  clay  turnpike  was  authorized  by  the 
General  Assembly  in  1829.  Julius  Woodford,  John  L. 
Smith  and  Zebulum  Leavenworth  were  appointed  com- 
missioners to  locate  the  road,  survey  and  construct  the 
same  from  Leavenworth  twenty  miles  in  the  direction  of 
Indianapolis.  The  pike,  which  was  to  be  any  width  not 
exceeding  forty  feet,  was  to  be  well  built  and  the  streams 
over  which  the  road  ran  must  be  well  bridged.  The 
course  of  the  road  was  to  be  laid  off  in  sections  and  the 
constructions  let  out  to  the  lowest  bidder,  who  was  to 
furnish  a  bond  for  the  faithful  construction  of  the  work. 
The  road  must  be  completed  in  five  years,  after  which 
toll-gates  may  be  erected  and  fees  charged.  The  fees  were 
for  riding:  6V4  cents  for  persons;  18%  cents  for  carts; 
121/2  cents  for  empty  carts;  50  cents  for  loaded  wagons; 
614  cents  for  twenty  head  of  sheep,  hogs  or  cattle.  The 
money  to  build  the  road  must  be  raised  by  selling  bonds  to 
the  citizens  of  the  county.  The  Leavenworth  boys  were 
trying  hard  to  build  up  the  county  road,  but  not  enough 
money  was  raised  to  make  the  road  a  success. 

Most  of  the  roads  were  entitled  to  use  the  three  per 
cent,  funds  to  build  these  roads.  Julius  Woodford  of 
Leavenworth  was  appointed  to  receive  the  three  per  cent, 
fund  from  the  state.  A  road  report  of  the  three  per  cent, 
funds  may  be  found  in  the  commissioners'  records  of  Sep- 
tember, 1846: 

Paid  out  on — 
1.     Leavenworth  and  Jasper  road  $100 


136  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

2.  Leavenworth  and  Salem  road   99 

3.  Cory  don  and  Princeton  road   95 

4.  Magnolia  to  county  line  by  Dubois 50 

5.  For  digging  out  the  Dug  Way  on  the  hill  near 
Cedar  Cemetery  at  Leavenworth  on  the  Salem 

road     50 


Total    $394 

Balance  on  hand  was   $  6 

Engineer  said  that  the  papers  were  lost. 

Signed:  Robert  Sands. 

March,  1843,  one  finds  this  report  in  the  commissioners' 
records : 

Paid  out — 

Leavenworth  and  Jasper  Road  $  424.89 

Fredonia  and  Mt.  Pleasant  Road 59.50 

New  Albany  and  Jasper  Road 100.00 

Leavenworth  and  Paoli  Road   245.00 

Mount  Pleasant  Road   144.08 

Milltown  Road   173.58 

Bridge  and  Hill  at  Indian  Hollow 454.75 

Milltown    73.25 

Princeton  State  Road   25.00 

Road  and  wharf  at  Leavenworth  after  deducting 

$500  by  citizens   824.57 

Expense  to  Leavenworth  for  funds  12.00 

Commissioners  for  services    40.12 

Paid  David  Miller  225.00 

Total     $2,803.74 


EARLY  ROADS  137 

Balance  due  me   $    156.36 

All  was  paid  in  full  except  what  the  citizens  worked 
out  on  the  wharf. 

Signed :  Zebulum  Leavenworth. 

Received : 

Elam  Wiley    $    400.00 

From    Batman    2,000.00 

W.  R.  Reynold  50.00 

David    Miller    77.00 

Interest     120.30 

Total  receipts    $2,647.38 

Paid   out    $2,803.76, 

Balance  due  him    $    156.36 

William  R.  Reynold  was  removed  from  office  as  agent 
of  the  three  per  cent,  fund  and  Absalom  Edwards  ap- 
pointed in  his  stead,  John  and  Peter  Peckinpaugh  as  his 
sureties.  He  had  doubtless  handled  the  funds  carelessly. 
One  report  shows  that  certain  papers  were  lost. 

The  board  doing  county  business  in  1824  appointed 
Seth  M.  Leavenworth  and  Edward  Golden  to  open  up  a 
road  from  Leavenworth  to  intersect  the  Sterling  road  near 
Jack  Enlow's  farm.  The  next  year  Stephen  Roberson  was 
selected  to  open  up  a  road  from  Leavenworth  to  Mc- 
Williams'  farm  by  the  mouth  of  Bogard  Fork.  This  road 
went  by  Magnolia,  passed  near  the  new  poor  farm,  by  the 
mouth  of  Bogard  Fork  to  McWilliam's,  west  of  the  pres- 
ent town  of  English. 


138  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  county  commissioners  on  September  6,  1824,  pro- 
vided for  a  road  from  the  Three  Forks  of  Little  Blue  to 
Richard  Weathers'  farm,  just  west  of  Marengo  now.  John 
Crawford  was  appointed  to  supervise  the  work  as  far  as 
Archibald  Sloan's  farm.  All  men  living  within  two  miles 
of  the  road  were  required  to  assist  with  the  work.  The 
road  must  be  sixteen  feet  wide. 

The  commissioners  in  1832  divided  the  townships  into 
road  districts  so  that  the  supervisors  might  do  a  better 
grade  of  work. 

Ohio  had  4  districts. 
Union  had  2  districts. 
Patoka  had  4  districts. 
Whisky  Run  had  6  districts. 
Sterling  had  4  districts. 
Jennings  had  6  districts. 

The  boundaries  of  these  districts  may  be  found  in  the 
commissioners'  records  for  1832. 

The  data  on  the  above  roads  has  been  secured  at  great 
toil  and  expense  in  certain  cases.  Some  parts  may  not  be 
exactly  correct  but  the  account  is  the  best  we  can  secure 
under  the  circumstances. 


CHAPTER  IX 


ROARING    FIFTIES 


Pilot  Knob  is  one  of  the  highest  points  of  land  in  the 
state.  A  postoffice  was  established  there  in  1850  and  John 
C.  Morris  was  the  first  postmaster. 

With  the  coming  of  the  fifties  and  the  new  school  laws 
saw  a  decline  in  the  seminary  interest.  In  March  of  1847 
the  trustees  met  and  organized  by  electing  Elam  Wiley 
president  and  Sam  Pepper  clerk.  They  did  not  have  suf- 
ficient funds  to  hire  a  trustee  or  a  teacher.  They  had 
received  for  rent  $14.50  and  $12.15  more  was  due. 

They  ordered  paid  these  bills  to  Dan  Mcintosh  out  of 
the  funds: 

1.     Door  lock  $1.00 

Window  glass    .39 

Whiting  and  Putty 10 

Putting  on  lock  .50 

Brick  and  hauling   1.00 

Lime  and  sand   .30 

Putting  up  stove    50 

Paid  Warfield  for  brick  work 75 

Repairing  stairs    .50 

Insurance    7.14 

139 


140  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Putting  in  13  glass .65 

Attending  on  Warfield    .50 

Total   Receipts    $14.50 

Total  Expenses   $13.33 


Balance    $  1.17 

The  board  dissolved  itself  after  appointing  Sam  Clark 
with  full  power  to  act  on  all  occasions  for  them. 

The  board  fixed  the  rent  of  the  lower  rooms  at  $2.00  a 
month  for  school  purposes  and  $1.50  per  month  for  the 
upper  rooms. 

Bry  Gregory  was  selling  liquor  in  Hartford  but  the 
board  refused  him  another  license.  Later  the  board 
granted  the  license. 

On  August  26,  1848,  Alfred  Williams  and  John  Hughes 
were  elected  trustees  of  township  3  south,  range  1  west. 

The  inspector  was  Alfred  Williams;  judges,  Ben  Yates 
and  Talbert  Yates;  clerks,  Ansel  Dexter  and  Silas  Yates. 
The  election  occurred  at  Thomas  Robinson's  house.  There 
were  29  votes  to  sell  the  land  and  a  few  against  the  sale. 
So  the  sale  carried. 

The  new  constitution  went  into  effect  during  this  period. 
Sam  Pepper,  who  represented  Crawford  County  in  the 
convention,  did  what  he  could  to  help  make  a  good  con- 
stitution. 

The  election  of  1852  was  a  rather  quiet  affair  in  Craw- 
ford County.  The  Democrats  had  a  ticket  in  the  field,  the 
Whigs  had  a  ticket,  too.     Scott  for  President  received  502 


ROARING  FIFTIES  141 

votes  and  Pierce  received  499.  English  for  Congress  re- 
ceived 517  votes  and  Ferguson,  the  Whig  candidate, 
received  538.  W.  A.  Jackson  was  elected  clerk,  Samuel 
Ilighfill  was  elected  surveyor,  and  James  Lemonds  was 
elected  county  auditor. 

Crawford  County  was  growing  rapidly.  The  census  of 
1850  showed  that  we  had  6,318  people. 

The  flatboat  trade  in  the  fifties  was  at  its  best.  Great 
cargoes  of  lime,  corn,  whisky,  meat,  and  many  other  arti- 
cles were  shipped  south  from  Leavenworth.  Life  on  the 
flatboat  had  its  dangers.  The  boats  were  often  robbed. 
The  following  article  was  taken  from  the  New  Albany 
Tribune  October  30,  1852:  "We  are  indebted  to  Captain 
Vansickle  for  the  account  of  the  murder  near  Troy,  Perry 
County,  Indiana,  while  in  the  flatboat  trade.  The  boat 
which  had  been  sunk  in  five  feet  of  water,  had  been  de- 
serted many  hours.  It  was  a  large  boat  about  95  feet  long 
and  loaded  with  whisky  and  flour,  besides  groceries.  The 
boat  was  named  Eliza  No.  2.  The  boat,  which  presented 
a  ghastly  sight,  was  marked  with  blood  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  Bodies  of  two  men  were  found  in  the  boat,  while 
the  third  body  was  found  in  the  water.  The  one  in  the 
water  had  weights  tied  to  it.  The  men  must  have  been 
killed  with  a  hatchet  because  one  was  found  on  the  boat 
all  covered  with  blood.  Their  skulls  had  been  crushed  in 
by  heavy  blows,  while  many  minor  wounds  were  found  on 
the  bodies.  From  the  appearance  one  is  led  to  believe  that 
the  crew  mutinied,  part  killing  the  rest,  and  then  robbing 
the  boat  of  what  they  could  get  away  with." 

Bill  Jenkins,  who  was  in  the  flatboat  trade,  was  killed 
in  New  Orleans  on  his  boat.    Police  passing  the  boat  heard 


142  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

sounds  coming  from  the  boat.  On  investigation  they  found 
Jenkins  in  a  dying  condition.  Money  was  scattered  all  over 
the  floor.  Harve  Gibbs  and  Marsh  Land  were  accused  of 
the  foul  deed  but  the  matter  could  not  be  proved.  Gibbs 
was  in  jail  a  long  time  but  was  finally  released.  Calwell 
came  back  from  New  Orleans  and  told  the  news.  The 
corpse  was  brought  back  and  buried.  John  Archibald  and 
Rensselaer  Peabody  had  gone  on  his  bond.  The  business 
trip  failed.  The  bondsmen  lost  heavily.  Archibald 
secured  a  farm  down  near  Alton  which  he  sold  to  Marion 
Archibald.  Gibbs  and  Land  never  mixed  in  society  any 
more. 

The  Methodist  church  at  Leavenworth  had  been  estab- 
lished. J.  T.  Lauden  Hynes  on  April  22,  1886,  furnished 
the  following :  ' '  The  history  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  at  Leavenworth  must  rely  upon  the  testimony  of 
its  old  members  for  facts.  One  of  the  oldest  members  was 
Rebecca  Kendall.  Her  name  heads  the  list.  She  united 
with  the  church  while  Aaron  Woods  was  the  presiding 
elder  and  Brother  Jones  was  the  pastor  of  a  large  circuit, 
one  point  of  which  was  at  Leavenworth.  The  trustees  were 
Samuel  Scott  and  Jacob  Sauerheber.  The  old  church, 
which  was  washed  away  by  high  water  in  1884,  was  built 
in  1853.  The  water  stood  eight  feet  deep  on  the  spot 
where  the  church  was.  The  one  now  standing  was  built  in 
1886.  The  cornerstone  was  laid  at  four  o'clock  on  April 
22,  1886."  The  Methodist  pastor  for  the  year  of  1852  was 
Elias  Gaskins. 

During  the  fifties,  when  Andrew  Rothroek  was  a  small 
boy,  he  discovered  the  Auger  Hole  to  the  new  cave  at 
Wyandotte.     This  wonderful  cave  is  located  on  Big  Blue 


ROARING  FIFTIES  143 

River  about  six  miles  from  Leavenworth.  Doctor  Adams, 
who  manufactured  saltpeter  there  in  old  Salt  Peter,  held 
the  land  in  1812  during  the  war  with  England.  H.  P. 
Rothrock  bought  the  land  on  which  the  cave  is  located. 
At  first  the  cave  was  kuown  as  Salt  Peter  Cave.  Laws 
were  enacted  to  compel  the  owner  to  fence  the  cave  so  that 
cattle  could  not  lick  the  salt.  After  the  discovery  of  the 
Auger  Hole  in  1850,  one  finds  that  the  county  board  of 
review  had  raised  the  assessment  on  Rothrock 's  land  $500 
on  account  of  the  discovery  of  the  cave. 

The  Auger  Hole  had  to  be  broken  away  before  one 
could  enter  it.  Just  beyond  the  entrance  when  it  was  first 
opened  the  men  found  foot  prints.  The  tracks  showed 
that  one  large  man,  two  smaller  men,  or  women  and  three 
children  had  walked  over  the  plastic  clay.  The  estimation 
showed  that  the  tracks  were  about  one  thousand  years  old. 
Just  who  made  the  tracks  will  never  be  known.  In  the 
wild  deluge  at  the  end  of  the  route  which  is  two  miles  long 
one  finds  pieces  of  wood,  piles  of  ashes  and  other 
articles.  This  material  must  have  been  carried  over  two 
miles  of  tortuous  climbing.  Knowing  how  lazy  the  Indians 
were,  one  naturally  wonders  whether  they  were  the  ones 
who  did  so  much  hard  work  to  carry  that  wood  into  the 
cave  and  for  what  purposes  the  fires  were  made  so  long 
ago. 

The  river  traffic  in  the  fifties  was  at  its  height.  The 
best  boats  were  on  the  Ohio  then.  There  were  The  Ohio 
State,  'Sultana,  Shotwell,  The  Redstone,  Belle  Key,  Ben 
Franklin,  and  the  Eclipse.  These  boats  ran  on  a  regular 
schedule  from  Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans.  "When  General 
Scott  was  on  Iris  way  to  Mexico  he  passed  Leavenworth  on 


144  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  Black  Hawk.  At  Peckinpaugh's  wood-yard  near  Cape 
Sandy  the  captain  took  a  crowd  of  the  boys  to  the  cabin 
and  state  rooms  to  see  Scott.  He  was  very  courteous  and 
stood  up  for  the  boys  to  see  him.  These  boats  were  occa- 
sionally carrying  up  cholera  from  the  South. 

The  people  were  still  building  roads  in  1858.  A  road 
from  Rothrock's  mill  to  the  Paoli  road  was  opened  in 
October,  1858.  Mr.  McClain,  H.  P.  Rothrock  and  Martin 
Hanger  marked  out  the  road.  The  road  ran  from  Philo 
Rothrock's  mill  to  or  near  John  Wiley's  farm.  The  road 
was  measured  and  located  as  follows :  Beginning  at  a 
bridge  over  Big  Blue  in  section  10  township  3  south,  range 
2  east;  thence  S.  70°  W.  35  poles;  W.  84°  poles;  N.  54° 
W.  88  poles;  S.  88°  W.  94  poles;  N.  56°  W.  28  poles;  N. 
29°  W.  68  poles;  N.  61°  W.  112  poles;  W.  82  poles  to  a 
pool;  W.  126  poles;  N.  66°  W.  54  poles;  N.  42°  W.  20 
poles;  N.  52  poles;  AY.  28  poles;  W.  20  poles;  S.  86°  W.  82 
poles;  S.  78°  W.  46  poles;  S.  60°  W.  28  poles;  W.  288 
poles  to  the  Paoli  road  about  four  and  three-fourths  miles. 
This  road  came  out  to  the  Paoli  road  near  Pilot  Knob. 
The  road  was  ordered  opened  30  feet  wide.  McClain  was 
allowed  $4.00,  Rothrock  $6  and  Hanger  $4  for  marking 
out  the  road. 

The  October  election  was  held  in  Crawford  County  in 
1858  at  these  places :  Leavenworth,  William  Mansfield, 
inspector ;  Milltown,  John  Bates,  inspector ;  Big  Springs, 
J.  H.  Lambdin,  inspector ;  English,  Sam  Longest,  inspec- 
tor; Patoka  township,  Jesse  Mc Williams,  inspector;  Union, 
J.  M.  McDonald,  inspector;  Ohio,  S.  M.  Johnson;  Boone, 
R.  R.  Lees,  inspector.  These  officers  were  elected  in  the 
county:      Recorder,    Joseph    E.    Allen;    county    treasurer, 


ROARING  FIFTIES  145 

Marcus  Clark;  county  sheriff*,  W.  S.  Cummins;  William 
Hig'hfill  was  school  examiner. 

Another  attempt  was  made  in  1858  to  change  a  piece  of 
Perry  County  to  Crawford  County.  Joseph  Carmickle  and 
forty  others  desired  the  territory  in  Perry  County  begin- 
ning* at  the  range  line  and  taking  in  a  certain  quantity 
just  south  of  Johnson  township  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
section  31  in  town  3  south,  range  2  west;  thence  northeast 
to  corner  of  section  13  in  town  3  south,  range  2  west; 
thence  west  to  line  dividing  range  2  and  3 ;  thence  south 
to  the  southwest  corner  of  section  31,  in  town  3  south,  range 
2  west.  The  description  is  not  well  stated  here.  The  peo- 
ple of  Perry  County  in  most  cases  objected  to  these  trans- 
fers. 

One  finds  that  Isaac  Crecelius  bought  the  northwest 
one-fourth  of  the  northwest  one-fourth  of  section  16  in 
township  2  south,  range  2  west,  for  a  farm.  He  paid  $12.50 
down  and  the  rest  in  ten  years  at  7  per  cent.  This  was 
about  the  last  school  land  sold  in  Crawford  County. 

The  county  commissioners  appointed  these  men  as 
school  examiners  in  1859 :  John  McCollister,  William 
Highfield  and  Joseph  Sanders.  J.  S.  Kelson  was  also 
appointed  county  doctor. 

These  township  trustees  were  elected  in  1858 :  Jennings, 
Zeb  ulum  Leavenworth,  bond,  Z.  Leavenworth,  R.  D. 
Tucker,  J.  II.  Thornton ;  Ohio,  Dan  Collingwood,  bond, 
Dan  Collingwood,  John  Collingwood  and  Richard  White- 
man;  Liberty,  A.  P.  Trotter,  bond,  A.  P.  Trotter,  John 
Vance,  Andrew  Bailey,  Tom  Vance,  Robert  Blackburn; 
Union,  E.  F.  Roberson,  bond,  E.  F.  Roberson  and  Thomas 
Roberson;  Boone,  H.  B.  Meylin,  bond,  H.  B.  Meylin;  Pa- 


146  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

toka,  Francis  Highfield,  bond,  Francis  Highfield;  Whisky 
Run,  John  Stroud,  bond,  John  Stroud. 

James  Tadlock  was  elected  county  commissioner  in 
1859  from  the  first  district. 

The  Presbyterian  people  were  on  the  ground  early  in 
Crawford  County.  The  members  met  at  the  house  of 
Elijah  Sands,  who  was  clerk  of  the  election,  to  choose 
three  trustees  for  the  Presbyterian  church  on  June  7,  1849. 
Another  election  was  held  at  the  home  of  G.  K.  and  C.  N. 
Miller.  Reuben  D.  Tucker,  William  Ellsworth  and  Joseph 
Thornton  were  elected  June  8,  1849.  Later  a  new  house 
was  built  which  stands  near  the  old  court  house. 

On  December  8,  1858,  Harrison  Kendall,  with  seventy- 
three  others,  whose  names  were  on  a  petition,  appeared  be- 
fore the  board  of  county  commissioners  and  begged  that 
the  part  of  Scott  township  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  Big 
Indian  Creek,  thence  up  said  creek  to  the  line  dividing 
ranges  two  and  three,  thence  north  with  said  range  line 
to  Big  Blue  River,  thence  up  Big  Blue  to  line  dividing 
sections  13  and  14,  thence  north  to  Blue  River.  The 
board  ordered  the  land  joined  to  Crawford  County,  but 
the  matter  was  taken  to  court  at  Corydon.  Zebulum 
Leavenworth  was  very  influential  in  getting  this  done.  He 
hired  Walter  Q.  Gresham  and  Harrison  County  engaged 
Attorney  Wolf.  The  matter  came  up  in  court  at  Corydon 
and  the  judge  was  about  to  decide  in  favor  of  Leavenworth 
when  Attorney  Wolf  told  the  judge  that  he  would  like  to 
see  him  privately  before  he  made  his  decision.  Zebulum 
never  knew  just  what  Wolf  said  but  he  thought  Wolf  said 
that  Scott  township  being  heavily  Democratic  if  given  to 
Crawford  County  would  cause  Harrison  to  go  Republican, 


ROARING  FIFTIES  147 

or  would  endanger  the  Democratic  majority  in  Harrison 
Count}-.  Whatever  was  said  had  its  influence  for  the  judge 
decided  that  such  a  procedure  would  be  unconstitutional. 
Mr.  Leavenworth  could  have  appealed  the  case  to  the 
State  Supreme  Court  for  $50,  but  not  one  of  his  fellow 
townsmen  would  give  a  dollar  to  defray  the  cost  of  the 
appeal.  A  few  months  after  that  a  similar  case  went  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana.  The  Court  decided  that 
the  county  commissioners,  when  a  majority  of  the  people 
in  one  township  wished  to  be  transferred  from  one  county 
to  another,  had  the  right  to  make  such  a  transfer.  If  this 
piece  of  territory  had  been  given  to  Crawford  County  it 
would  have  held  the  county  seat  at  Leavenworth.  Thus 
English  would  not  have  won  the  county  seat  in  1896. 

The  new  court  house  at  Leavenworth  was  rather  ex- 
pensive at  times.  On  March  9,  1859,  Orville  Smith  was 
allowed  $2.74  for  painting  the  dome  of  the  county  jail. 
Men  escaped  from  jail  frequently.  The  New  Albany 
Daily  Tribune  for  July  29,  1851,  has  this  statement: 
"Charles  D.  Seeds  and  John  Avers  escaped  from  the 
Leavenworth  jail  last  night.  They  had  been  accused  of 
trying  to  pass  counterfeit  money.  The  sheriff  had  offered 
$100  reward  for  their  arrest." 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners held  at  the  court  house  in  Leavenworth  on  June 
28,  1873,  the  board  ordered  a  new  house  to  be  constructed 
for  the  inmates  of  the  county  farm.  The  house,  which  was 
to  be  completed  by  December  3,  1873,  was  to  be  paid  for 
when  the  board  of  commissioners  was  satisfied  that  the 
house  had  been  constructed  according  to  plans  and  speci- 
fications here  submitted.     Two-thirds  cash  and  the  balance 


148  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

on  June  7,  1874.  The  specifications  called  for  were :  One 
lower  hall,  ten  feet  by  eighteen  feet;  sitting  room,  sixteen 
feet  by  eighteen  feet;  two  bed  rooms,  nine  feet  by  nine 
feet;  dining-room,  twelve  feet  by  eighteen  feet;  kitchen, 
thirteen  feet  by  eighteen  feet;  pantry,  four  feet  by  nine 
feet;  upper  hall,  fourteen  feet  by  eighteen  feet;  two  bed 
rooms,  twelve  and  one-half  feet  by  eighteen  feet;  six  bed 
rooms,  ten  feet  by  twelve  feet.  The  house,  which  was  to  be 
a  frame,  was  sixty  feet  front  and  forty-eight  feet  wide. 
The  specifications  also  stated  the  size  of  the  sills  and 
rafters,  the  sleepers  and  the  joists  as  well  as  the  doors  and 
the  windows.  The  house  was  to  be  built  of  poplar  and 
oak  lumber. 

The  board  of  county  commissioners  advertised  for  bids 
in  the  Crawford  County  Democrat  for  six  continuous  weeks 
until  the  board  of  commissioners  met  at  the  court  house  on 
August  16,  1873,  and  opened  the  bids.  The  notice  to  the 
contractors  may  be  found  on  page  136  of  book  6.  No 
bids  were  to  be  received  after  7  o  'clock  of  the  day  on  which 
the  board  met. 

When  the  board  met  and  opened  the  bids,  they  found 
that  these  parties  had  made  bids :  R.  F.  Williams, 
$2,224.60;  William  S.  Houghton,  $1,850.00;  G.  W.  Lynch, 
$1,850.00;  William  T.  Washer,  $2,245.00;  E.  U.  Patrick, 
$1,595.00;  William  Farquair,  $1,850;  James  W.  Riley, 
$1,569.95 ;  James  W.  Riley  being  the  lowest  and  best  bid 
is  therefore  awarded  the  contract  when  he,  James  W. 
Riley,  has  executed  a  bond  to  the  amount  of  $3,000  that 
he  will  faithfully  perform  his  duties.  Jacob  Tucker, 
Logan  Miller  and  John  Archibald  were  county  commis- 
sioners. 


ROARING  FIFTIES  149 

The  commissioners  allowed  R.  T.  Williams  a  fee  of 
$5.00  for  drawing  up  the  plans  and  specifications  at  their 
September  session  in   1873. 

Mr.  Riley  appeared  before  the  board  of  commissioners 
in  September,  1873,  and  filed  his  bond  for  $3,000  for  the 
faithful  performances  of  his  duties.  Isaiah  Henry,  John 
R.  Land  and  J.  L.  Temple  were  on  his  bond. 

The  auditor  was  authorized  on  September  2,  1873,  to 
issue  warrants  to  James  W.  Riley  as  follows :  On  Septem- 
ber 3,  1873,  $500;  on  October  1,  1873,  $150;  on  November 
1,  1873,  $150;  and  to  await  further  orders  of  the  board  of 
commissioners. 

On  December  4,  1874,  the  board  of  commissioners  en- 
gaged John  D.  Shaffer  to  superintend  the  poor  farm  for  a 
term  of  two  years.  Mr.  Shaffer  was  to  be  paid  the  sum 
of  $1.65  a  week  for  each  and  every  inmate  he  boarded 
except  children  under  the  age  of  18  months.  These  he 
was  to  keep  for  a  reasonable  allowance,  no  charge  being 
made  for  board.  Mr.  Shaffer  agreed  to  pay  the  county 
$55  a  year  for  the  rent  of  the  poor  farm  and  take  good 
care  of  the  buildings.  The  paupers  who  were  able  to  work 
were  to  make  the  clothes  for  the  inmates,  the  material 
being  furnished  by  the  county.  He  must  treat  them  hu- 
manely but  can  require  them  to  work  when  they  are  well. 
No  timber  must  be  destroyed  on  the  farm. 

At  the  close  of  the  two  years  the  board  employed 
Alexander  Scott  as  superintendent  of  the  poor  farm  for 
the  period  1876  to  1878. 


CHAPTER  X 


ENGLISH 


The  first  man  who  bought  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Eng- 
lish was  Moses  Smith,  who  bought  the  east  half  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  24,  township  2  south,  range 
1  west.  This  was  in  1814.  This  was  near  the  three  forks 
of  Little  Blue  River,  namely,  Camp  Fork,  Dog  Creek  and 
Brownstown  Fork.  Later  others  came  and  a  town  grew 
up.     W.  W.  Cummins  made  the  first  plat  of  the  town  in 

1839.  It  was  recorded  in  the  recorder's  office  in  February, 

1840,  at  Fredonia  by  the  name  of  "Hartford."  Later  the 
town  was  named  after  William  H.  English  who  was  elected 
to  Congress  from  this  district  in  1852  and  was  Hancock's 
running  mate  in  1880. 

A  few  of  the  early  settlers  who  lived  there  before  the 
war  were  Bry  Gregory,  James  A.  Brown,  W.  W.  Cummins, 
J.  R.  Brown,  Joseph  W.  Brown  and  Joseph  K.  Landiss. 

The  county  commissioners  ordered  the  elections  held 
there  in  1840.  Before  that  time  they  selected  some  citi- 
zen's home  at  which  the  election  was  held.  On  January 
7,  1828,  the  board  of  justices  doing  county  business  ordered 
the  elections  held  at  the  house  of  John  Crawford  until 
further  notice. 

The  plat  submitted  here  is  a  copy  of  the  original.  The 
streets  were  sixty-six  feet  wide  and  the  alleys  were  sixteen 

150 


ENGLISH  151 

and  one-half  feet  wide.  Bry  Gregory  was  granted  a  license 
to  run  a  tippling  house  or  a  saloon  in  June,  1840,  and  a 
store  in  1839. 

The  Blue  River  meeting  house  was  built  not  far  from 
the  main  part  of  the  town.  At  first  there  were  only  thir- 
teen members.  Kinkaid  and  D.  M.  Stewart  were  working 
hard  for  the  success  of  the  church.  Later  more  members 
came  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  the  Christian 
church  was  firmly  established. 

The  autumn  election  of  1842  was  held  in  Hartford. 
Woodson  W.  Cummins  was  the  inspector  of  that  election. 
That  same  year  Joseph  Denbo  and  Bry  Gregory  both  had 
stores   in   Hartford. 

The  town  of  English  was  a  settlement  of  a  few  log  huts 
till  late  after  the  Civil  War.  A  log  school  house  was  built 
in  the  early  days.  In  a  subsequent  chapter  more  will  be 
said  about  English  and  its  growth. 

milltown 

Milltown,  which  for  a  long  time  was  named  Leaven- 
worth's Mill,  was  settled  about  1830.  Seth  Leavenworth 
made  the  plat  about  1827  and  filed  it  in  the  recorder's 
office  at  Fredonia  about  that  time.  The  plat  was  extended 
by  other  men  and  the  town  grew.  The  old  plat  made  by 
Leavenworth  shows  two  still  houses. 

Manuel  Schoonover  in  1837  was  allowed  a  license  to 
sell  foreign  merchandise  in  the  town  of  Leavenworth's 
Mill. 

The  Indiana  Gazeteer  of  1833  states  that  Milltown  had 
about  fifty  people,  three  stores,  a  carding  machine,  sawmill, 
a  grist  mill  and  a  merchant's  mill. 


152  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Sheriff  Tot  ten  was  authorized  to  hold  an  election  in 
Milltown  in  1828.  This  was  to  accommodate  the  voters. 
The  year  of  1833  Elijah  Mathews  was  granted  a  license  to 
keep  store  in  Milltown. 

A  bridge  was  needed  very  much  at  Milltown  now.  The 
board  allowed  Dave  Miller  $125  with  which  to  construct 
the  bridge  in  1836.  Next  year  the  board  doing  county 
business  removed  David  Miller  from  the  agency  and  com- 
pelled him  to  turn  over  all  funds  on  hands  at  that  time  to 
Zeb ulum  Leavenworth,  road  commissioner. 

The  first  licensed  grocery  or  saloon  was  opened  in  June, 
1845.  The  proprietor  was  Chris  Lentz.  He  was  put  under 
a  bond  of  $500.  A.  Black  and  Martin  Hanger  were  on  his 
bond.  Elizabeth  Lentz,  who  made  application  to  sell  liquor 
in  Milltown,  was  refused  license  June,  1848. 

By  a  law  of  the  state  enacted  June,  1848,  The  Milltown 
Bridge  Company  was  organized  and  incorporated.  Lib- 
bens  Frisbie  completed  the  bridge  over  the  river  at  Mill- 
town.  The  cost  was  $580,  which  sum  Frisbie  had  paid 
out. 

The  Indiana  Gazetteer  of  1850  states  that  Milltown  had 
150  people.  There  was  one  flour  mill,  a  grist  and  saw- 
mill, and  several  still  houses  and  carding  machines  at  that 
time. 

John  H.  Pfeiffer  was  the  postmaster  in  1860. 

Sheriff  Totten  held  the  election  there  in  1827. 

The  census  of  1840  shows  that  Milltown  had  seventy- 
three  inhabitants : 

Males  over  20  years 14 

Males  under  20  years 21  35 


ENGLISH  153 

Females  over  20  years   24 

Females  under  20  years 14  38 

Total  population,  1840 73 

BIG    SPRINGS 

The  town  of  Marengo  has  gone  by  various  names,  among 
which  are  Spring  Town,  Big  Springs,  Jimtown  and  Ma- 
rengo. 

On  April  15,  1839,  David  Stewart  deposited  in  the 
recorder's  office  in  Fredonia  the  original  copy  of  the  plat 
of  Marengo. 

Henry  Hollowell  squatted  on  the  site  of  Marengo  or 
Big  Springs  in  1811.  Later  Stewart  bought  him  out  and 
built  his  home  there.  Soon  Malachi  Monk  moved  into  the 
county  and  located  there.  He  with  others  built  the  famous 
old  block  house  about  1812.  There  were  many  Indians 
prowling  around  then,  but  one  finds  no  record  of  any  con- 
flict between  them  and  the  white  people.  The  block  house 
was  built  of  logs.  It  was  two  stories  high,  the  second  story 
extended  out  over  the  first  so  that  the  whites  could  fire 
down  on  the  Indians  and  give  them  a  warm  reception  in 
case  of  an  attack. 

David  Stewart  bought  the  farm  from  the  Government 
in  April,  1833.  Mr.  Stewart,  who  was  a  minister,  was 
much  in  demand  those  days.  He  assisted  the  two  Kinkaid 
brothers  to  establish  the  first  Christian  church  in  the 
county.  The  church  was  organized  in  a  little  log  house 
over  on  Dog  Creek,  near  English,  in  October,  1819.  At 
first  there  were  thirteen  members. 


154  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  town  never  grew  very  rapidly.  The  town  was 
located  about  fourteen  miles  from  Leavenworth  on  the 
Leavenworth  and  Paoli  road.  The  first  postoffice  was 
called  Tuckerville.  Later  it  was  changed  to  Proctorsville. 
Here  it  was  kept  until  about  1851.  A  committee  consisting 
of  Doctor  Mattingly,  Hugh  Taylor,  Robert  Walts,  D.  S. 
Tucker  and  M.  T.  Stewart  was  appointed  to  arrange  for 
the  moving  of  the  postoffice.  A  new  name  was  then  neces- 
sary.   Doctor  Mattingly  suggested  "Marengo." 

General  William  H.  Harrison,  who  was  a  great  friend 
of  David  M.  Stewart,  visited  him  at  Marengo,  once  cut  his 
name  on  the  stump  of  a  tree.  This  name  was  visible  till 
a  few  years  ago.  The  tree  stood  in  what  is  now  the  old 
academy  yards.     At  that  time  Harrison  lived  in  Corydon. 

Several  of  the  early  settlers  were  Ezra  Eavens,  Robert 
Bell,  John  Wood,  John  A.  Barnet,  James  H.  Turner,  Jacob 
Crecelius,  Cornelius  Riley  and  Martin  T.  Stewart. 

The  first  store  opened  in  Marengo  was  in  May,  1838. 
That  year  William  Proctor  received  a  license  to  keep  store 
at  Marengo.  In  May,  1840,  David  M.  Stewart  also  began 
keeping  a  store  in  Marengo. 

In  March,  1842,  Liberty  township  was  laid  out  with 
about  the  same  boundaries  as  it  has  now.  An  election  was 
held  in  Big  Springs  on  the  first  Monday  of  April,  1842, 
for  two  justices  for  Liberty  township.  In  the  future  all 
elections  are  to  be  held  in  Big  Springs. 

The  first  saloon  opened  in  Marengo  was  probably  in 
June,  1848.  David  S.  Tucker  that  year  opened  a  grocery, 
or  a  grog  shop,  or  a  tippling  house.  The  names  mean  the 
same  as  a  saloon. 

Marengo  grew  slowly.     At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War 


ENGLISH  155 

there  were  about  one  hundred  people  in  the  town.  The 
town  has  a  remarkable  war  record.  The  loyal  patriot  men 
up  there  never  allowed  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle  to  wear  a  butternut  badge  into  town  and  get 
away  with  it.  During  the  war  a  member  of  the  order  came 
into  town  wearing  the  "butternut"  badge.  Some  one  sit- 
ting down  saw  him  pass  into  a  gun  shop.  He  wore  two 
revolvers  and  carried  a  gun  but  that  did  not  scare  W.  T. 
Stewart  and  Ben  Goodman  who  was  at  home  on  a  sick 
furlough,  he  having  been  shot  through  at  Stone's  River. 
Stewart  snatched  off  the  badge  and  Ben  hit  him  in  the 
head  with  a  pair  of  knucks.  The  poor  fellow  was  almost 
killed.  He  crawled  part  of  the  way  home  till  he  was  found 
and  helped  home.    His  name  was  Dave  Miller. 

The  New  Albany  Ledger,  which  was  a  prominent  paper 
in  those  days,  declared  that  such  assaults  on  our  peaceful 
citizens  were  outrages  and  ought  not  to  occur.  Of  course, 
the  Ledger  was  in  sympathy  with  the  South  and  the  Golden 
Circle.  At  one  time  it  was  silenced  for  a  while  during 
the  war  for  some  of  its  statements. 

On  December  18,  1824,  the  men  met  at  Cornelius  Hall's 
and  elected  trustees  for  the  Big  Spring  church  and  school. 
Lots  were  deeded  for  the  school  and  church  purposes.  The 
church  house  was  reserved  for  the  third  Saturday  and 
Sunday  of  each  month.  William  B.  Johnson  was  the  sec- 
retary. One  may  find  the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  the 
order  on  pages  107  and  244  of  book  7  in  the  county  records. 

The  early  people  of  Marengo  were  the  Weathers, 
Stewarts,  Evans,  Bells,  Woods,  Crecelius,  Turners,  Rileys, 
Vances  and  the  Breedens. 


CHAPTER  XI 

OCCUPATIONS    AND    CUSTOMS 

When  the  white  men  first  came  over  the  hills  into 
Crawford  County  the  land  was  a  howling  wilderness  over 
which  wild  animals  roamed  at  will.  Probably  the  entire 
county  was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber.  At 
first  the  settlers  chose  the  uplands  for  their  homes  because 
the  lowlands  were  so  heavily  wooded  that  they  were  un- 
able to  clear  it  readily,  making  it  unhealthy  and  the  water 
impure.  Many  pioneers  squatted  on  the  land  which  they 
bought  later  on  from  the  Government  at  $1.25  per  acre. 
This  land  was  called  "Congress  land." 

The  first  settlers  lived  under  the  starry  heavens  until 
they  had  time  to  build  a  cabin  house.  The  pioneers  built 
cabins  out  of  the  tall  straight  poplars  and  oaks,  many  of 
which  were  two  feet  in  diameter.  These  were  scored  down 
and  hewed  till  they  were  about  eight  inches  thick.  The 
poplar  tree  was  much  softer  and  could  be  worked  easier. 
Since  the  timber  was  light,  the  logs  could  be  handled  easily 
and  were  much  preferred  for  houses.  The  hewing  was 
done  with  a  broadaxe.  A  good  workman  could  hew  the 
face  of  a  log  almost  as  smooth  as  one  could  saw  the  same 
and  the  hewed  face  did  not  rot  as  easily  as  the  sawed  one. 

The  site  for  a  cabin  was  generally  situated  near  a 
spring  of  wholesome  water.     This  was  very  essential  be- 

156 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  157 

cause  the  creek  water  was  not  good  for  drinking.  All 
sizes  of  cabins  were  built.  Abraham  Sheckel's  old  cabin 
house  is  still  standing  near  Cape  Sandy  on  the  river.  His 
house  is  about  twice  as  long  as  wide.  This  was  the  style  the 
southern  men  preferred,  while  men  from  the  north  built 
square  log  houses.  Many  built  double  log  houses.  These 
were  two  houses  just  a  few  feet  apart.  All  the  open  space 
was  covered  by  the  same  roof  and  used  for  a  summer 
kitchen.  The  logs  were  notched  so  that  they  would  fit 
together  easily  at  the  corners  and  be  locked  together. 
Hence  such  a  house  was  not  easily  blown  away  by  the 
wind.  When  a  man's  logs  were  ready  he  invited  in  his 
neighbors  and  had  a  house  raising.  Of  course  there  was 
plenty  of  food  to  eat  and  drink  on  such  an  occasion.  The 
pioneer  covered  his  house  with  a  clapboard  roof.  These 
were  about  four  good  feet  long,  eight  inches  wide  and  one 
inch  thick.  He  selected  a  fine  white  oak  for  a  boardtree, 
one  probably  four  feet  in  diameter.  The  settler  sawed 
down  the  tree  and  cut  the  body  into  cuts  about  four  feet 
long.  The  cuts  were  set  upon  end  and  the  bark  dressed 
off  well.  The  cut  then  was  split  into  bolts  which  were 
rived  into  boards  with  a  frow.  When  the  settler  had  time 
he  generally  shaved  the  faces  of  the  boards.  When  a 
house  was  covered  with  such  a  roof  it  lasted  a  long  time. 

The  settlers  often  used  a  whip-saw  in  sawing  out  lum- 
ber. In  the  use  of  the  whip-saw  the  settlers  raised  a  small 
tree  about  four  feet  high  and  one  man  stood  on  a  platform 
above  it  and  another  below  it  and  sawed  the  log  length- 
wise. What  lumber  was  sawed  in  this  way  was  used  for 
doors   and   flooring   and   furniture. 

The  pioneer  built  his  chimney  in  one  end  of  the  house. 


158  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

In  most  cases  the  chimney  was  made  out  of  stones  if  they 
were  handy.  If  they  were  scarce  one  then  built  his  chimney 
out  of  mud  and  sticks.  Of  course  the  best  families  did  not 
have  mud  and  stick  chimneys. 

The  old-fashioned  pioneer  made  his  floor  out  of  punch- 
eons, which  were  hewed  timbers  and  matched  so  that  they 
made  a  rather  stout  floor  but  not  very  warm.  Such  a 
floor  was  sufficiently  tight  to  keep  out  rats  and  snakes  but 
not  to  keep  out  spiders,  many  of  which  were  poisonous  to 
man  if  bitten  by  them. 

The  door  was  hung  on  wooden  hinges  and  opened  by 
means  of  a  string  run  through  a  hole  in  the  door.  At 
night  the  settler  drew  his  door-string  in  and  fastened  the 
door  by  means  of  a  pin  stuck  into  an  auger  hole  in  the 
door  facing. 

The  pioneers  used  glass  when  it  was  available  and  when 
they  could  not  obtain  glass  they  used  paper  in  the  win- 
dows. Glass  might  be  bought  at  Corydon  or  Jeffersonville, 
and  later,  when  boats  were  on  the  Ohio,  the  glass  might  be 
bought  at  Fredonia. 

At  night  the  pioneer  lighted  his  cabin  by  a  huge  fire 
in  the  fire-place,  or  by  burning  faggots  put  in  a  holder 
in  the  jamb-rock.  The  lamp  was  made  by  using  a  piece 
of  cloth  twisted  into  a  cord  and  put  into  a  saucer  of  grease. 
When  the  end  was  pulled  slightly  over  the  top  and  lit  it 
made  a  fair  light,  but  was  rather  dirty  and  smoky.  Later, 
candles  came  into  general  use.  They  were  molded  by  the 
settlers  and  were  much  better  than  the  grease.  They 
were  used  till  long  after  the  Civil  War  when  coal  oil  was 
discovered  and  became  cheap  so  that  all  people  could  use  it. 

The  pioneer's  hardy  housewife  did  most  of  the  cooking 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  159 

over  the  fire  on  the  hearth.  She  baked  the  bread  in  an 
old-fashioned  oven  before  the  fire.  It  was  something  like 
a  skillet  with  a  movable  top.  When  the  bread  was  put 
into  the  oven  and  the  top  was  placed  on  carefully,  it  then 
was  covered  with  coals  of  fire  and  set  in  a  bed  of  coals 
which  had  been  raked  out  before  the  fire.  Sometimes 
the  bread  became  a  little  dirty  but  no  one  complained,  for 
every  man  was  hungry  and  enjoyed  the  meal.  The  meat 
was  roasted  over  the  fire  or  broiled.  Much  of  it  was  wild 
game,  for  the  woods  were  full  of  all  kinds  of  game.  Corn 
was  used  for  bread  in  most  all  homes.  It  was  ground  in 
three  kinds  of  mills,  namely,  horse-mills,  water-mills  and 
steam-mills.  Leggett's  and  Fullenwider  's  and  Leaven- 
worth's Mills  were  the  oldest  ones  in  the  county.  Leg- 
gett  's  Mill  and  Fullenwider 's  Mill  were  on  Little  Blue  near 
Alton,  while  Seth  Leavenworth's  Mills  were  at  Leaven- 
worth and  at  Milltown.  The  first  cooking  stove  which  was 
ever  brought  into  the  county  was  probably  the  one  which 
Holcraft  bought  from  a  store  boat  in  1837.  This  was  a 
little  step  stove.  Holcraft,  who  lived  about  two  miles  north 
of  Fredonia,  had  many  callers  to  see  the  stove  and  see  if  it 
would  really  cook.  Elam  Wilens  advertised  three  stoves 
for  sale  on  August  30,  1838,  at  Leavenworth.  These 
were  about  the  first  in  the  county. 

The  millers  generally  ground  one  day  in  the  week.  On 
that  day  the  pioneers  from  far  and  near  came  with  their 
grist.  There  was  always  something  to  drink  and  many 
men  enjoyed  the  days  at  the  mill.  This  gave  them  a  chance 
to  meet  their  neighbors,  many  of  whom  lived  several  miles 
away.  While  they  were  waiting  their  turn  at  the  mill  the 
time  was  spent  in  story  telling,  among  which  the  favorite 


160  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

tales  were  ghost  stories.  No  wonder  then  that  each  one 
wanted  his  "grist"  before  dark,  so  that  he  could  get  home. 
Besides,  the  pioneers  might  have  an  encounter  with  a  bob- 
cat, a  wolf,  or  a  bear  as  he  went  through  the  dark  and 
gloomy  forest.  The  state  encouraged  millers  by  exempting 
them  from  military  duties  and  jury  duties  in  times  of 
peace.  The  miller  was  not  held  responsible  for  the  loss  of 
sacks  unless  the  owner's  name  was  on  them.  The  miller 
was  allowed  to  exact  a  toll  of  one-fourth  if  he  furnished 
the  horses  to  grind  the  grist. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  stories  told  in  those  old 
days  was  Peckinpaugh  's  Indian  story.  Uncle  Peter  Peck- 
inpaugh,  who  had  moved  to  southern  Indiana  about  1806, 
built  a  cabin  near  Cape  Sandy  on  the  Ohio  River  and  was 
living  there  by  himself.  He  had  a  large  sugar  camp  open 
and  was  making  sugar.  The  pots  were  boiling  well,  the 
sun  had  set,  and  all  the  land  was  dark.  Uncle  Peter  sat 
in  an  easy  seat,  smoking  his  pipe  and  watching  the  syrup 
boil.  Suddenly  the  syrup  caught  fire  and  burned  up. 
Uncle  Peter  took  that  as  an  ill  omen  and  fled  to  his  cabin. 
When  morning  came  he  returned  and  such  a  sight  he  never 
had  seen  before.  There  were  moccasin  tracks  of  all  sizes 
around  the  pots  where  the  Indians  had  been  licking  the 
syrup  and  drinking  the  sap  in  the  other  vessels.  The 
point  of  contention  was  whether  that  was  a  sign  admonish- 
ing Peter  to  flee  or  whether  he  had  gone  to  sleep  and  let 
his  syrup  get  too  hot  and  burn  up. 

The  writer's  father,  when  he  was  a  little  boy,  went 
to  John  Carnes'  mill  with  the  men  where  he  was  staying. 
It  being  a  cold  ugly  day  the  men  were  in  by  the  fire.  One 
man  who  had  brought  his  two  wolf  hounds  was  telling 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  161 

some  amusing-  stories  to  the  crowd  while  occasionally  one 
could  hear  the  dogs  bark  out  at  the  hopper.  After  some 
time  one  man  went  out  and  found  that  the  do'gs  had  dis- 
covered  the  meal  streaming  down  and  were  eating  it  faster 
than  the  mill  ground,  then  they  would  bark  for  more. 
After  that  one  man  stayed  out  and  kept  the  dogs  away. 

The  farmer  did  not  clear  much  ground  at  first.  He 
examined  the  oak  trees  in  the  spring  to  see  if  there  was 
plenty  of  bloom  for  acorns  on  which  he  could  fatten  his 
hogs.  If  the  prospect  was  good  he  did  not  plant  much 
corn  for  that  year. 

The  farmer  and  his  wife  made  the  clothes  for  the  whole 
family.  The  writer  has  been  told  by  old  citizens  that  as 
late  as  1836  Representative  Sands  of  Crawford  County 
wore  a  suit  of  homespun  while  attending  the  General 
Assembly  at  Indianapolis. 

The  main  resources  in  those  early  days  were  timber, 
fur-bearing  animals  and  fish. 

Probably  no  county  in  the  state  had  better  timber  than 
Crawford  County.  The  rocky  hillsides,  as  well  as  the  level 
land,  were  covered  with  oak,  poplar,  gum,  linn,  sycamore 
and  many  other  varieties.  Many  of  these  trees  were  two 
feet  "over"  forty  feet  from  the  stump.  It  must  have 
taken  several  centuries  for  such  trees  to  grow.  Most 
of  the  oak  was  sawed  into  plow  beams  in  those  early 
days.  Later,  barge  bottom  was  much  needed.  This  kind 
of  lumber  was  about  two  inches  thick  and  as  wide  as  it 
could  be  had.  Flatboats  used  the  same  material  for  floor- 
ing and  siding.  The  poplar  made  a  high  grade  of  weather- 
boarding,  lumber  for  flooring,  doors  and  boat  gunwales. 
Hoop  poles  were  a  great  source  of  wealth  to  the  early  settler. 


162  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

There  were  several  kinds  of  them.  Leavenworth  was  the 
shipping  point  for  hoops  till  late  in  the  eighties.  John 
Bahr  was  called  the  hoop  pole  king  because  he  bought 
and  shipped  them  by  the  thousands.  One  of  the  great 
occupations  then  was  hoop  shaving.  The  small  hickory 
poles  were  cut,  split  through  the  center  and  then  shaved  on 
an  old-fashioned  shaving  horse  sufficiently  to  make  the  split 
edges  smooth.  William  S.  Polen,  one  of  the  prominent 
farmers  near  Birdseye,  told  the  writer  that  he  came  with 
his  father  all  the  way  to  Leavenworth  with  a  load  of  hoops. 
It  took  two  days  to  make  the  trip  of  about  twenty-eight 
miles.  At  that  time  Leavenworth  was  a  shipping  point  for 
hoops  and  lumber  of  all  kinds.  When  John  Bahr  was 
buying  hoops  he  had  most  all  the  waste  land  covered  with 
hoops  at  Leavenworth. 

The  farmer  spent  most  of  the  day  hunting  and  fishing. 
Why  did  he  not  work  more  on  his  farm?  There  was  not 
any  use  to  clear  the  ground.  A  few  bunches  of  hoops 
would  buy  his  bread,  salt  and  pepper  and  the  woods  fur- 
nished the  meat  and  the  water  the  fish.  The  pelts  of  the 
wild  animals  he  sold.  The  woods  were  full  of  bears,  deer, 
panthers,  wolves,  besides  the  small  animals  such  as  squir- 
rels, foxes,  raccoons  and  rabbits.  The  large  animals  hardly 
ever  attacked  men  then,  but  they  played  havoc  with  the 
pioneer's  young  pigs,  chickens  and  sheep. 

The  writer's  father  was  working  for  Uncle  Peter  Peck- 
inpaugh  when  he  was  a  boy  of  about  ten  years  of  age. 
One  night  after  they  had  gone  to  bed  something  raised  a 
terrible  disturbance  down  at  the  hog  pen  where  his  old  sow 
had  a  litter  of  pigs.  He  turned  his  wolf  dogs  loose  and 
seized  his  hand-spike  and  ran  down  to  the  pen.    When  he 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  163 

arrived  the  two  largest  dogs  had  caught  some  wild  animal, 
one  by  the  shoulder  and  the  other  by  the  hips  and  were 
struggling  around  over  the  ground.  Watching  his  chances 
he  struck  down  between  the  dogs  and  as  luck  would  have  it, 
broke  the  varmint's  back.  It  was  easily  dispatched  then. 
Securing  a  light  from  the  house,  he  examined  the  animal 
which  was  a  large  panther  measuring  eight  feet  from  the 
end  of  the  tail  to  its  nose. 

The  county  commissioners  were  authorized  by  law  to 
pay  the  settlers  for  each  wolf  scalp.  John  Stone,  James 
Land,  Nathan  Ruth,  Dan  Farley,  Enos  Campbell  and  Ed- 
mond  Ardoch  were  paid  one  dollar  each  in  November, 
1827,  for  wolf  scalps. 

Fruit  growing  became  a  favorite  occupation  as  soon  as 
the  settlers  could  clear  up  land.  Many  varieties  of  apples 
were  grown.  As  late  as  1860  men  had  probably  twenty- 
five  varieties.  The  settlers  made  the  apples  into  brandy 
and  shipped  it  away  to  New  Orleans  by  flatboat.  Later, 
corn  was  made  into  whiskey  and  shipped  south.  For  that 
reason  coopering  was  a  leading  occupation  among  our  early 
people.  There  was  a  demand  for  "tight"  barrels  and 
apple  barrels.  The  staves  out  of  which  tight  barrels  were 
made  were  dressed  and  the  edges  planed  so  well  that  when 
the  barrel  was  set  up  it  did  not  need  much  corking  to  hold 
water,  molasses  or  whiskey.  Lime  was  shipped  away  in 
barrels,  too.    Much  wine  was  also  made  in  those  early  days. 

The  early  settler  did  not  need  much  food  of  any  kind. 
The  woods  furnished  meat.  There  were  squirrels,  rabbits 
and  wild  pigeons  by  the  thousands.  A  stray  shot  would 
bring  down  enough  for  a  pot  pie.  At  roosting  time  they 
came  by  the  thousands  and  when  they  lighted  on  the  tops 


164         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

of  the  trees  they  broke  down  the  branches.  Old  settlers 
tell  queer  stories  about  the  pigeons  darkening  the  sun 
when  they  flew  over  but  there  was  more  truth  than  one 
might  think  in  the  statement. 

The  farmer  let  his  hogs  run  wild  and  live  on  the  acorns, 
of  which  there  were  thousands  under  the  large  oak  trees. 
When  the  acorn  crop  was  poor  the  farmer  was  compelled  to 
raise  more  corn.  The  type  of  hog  raised  in  those  days 
would  take  the  prize  in  a  side  show  now.  They  were  able 
to  outrun  the  wild  animals  in  the  forest  and  when  brought 
to  bay  they  gave  a  good  account  of  themselves  in  a  fight. 
What  sheep  and  cattle  the  farmer  had  were  capable  of 
swift  running  and  high  jumping  to  escape  the  dogs  and 
wolves. 

The  farmer  had  much  trouble  in  remembering  his  stock. 
There  grew  up  a  custom  of  marking  the  ears  of  his  hogs 
and  calves.  Each  one  had  his  own  ear  mark.  John  Sheckels 
of  Ohio  had  his  ear  mark  recorded  in  the  recorder's 
office  at  English.  His  was  a  slit  in  the  left  ear  and  an 
under  slope  in  the  right  ear.  His  mark  was  recorded 
October  26,  1837. 

Meat  packing  was  one  of  the  important  occupations  of 
the  people.  Hogs  were  driven  down  into  Crawford  County 
from  Orange  County,  Washington  County  and  as  far 
away  as  Bloomington.  They  drove  them  down  there  and 
let  them  fatten  on  the  "mast"  for  several  weeks  in  the 
fall  and  then  butchered  them  and  smoked  or  pickled  the 
pork  which  was  shipped  away  by  flatboat  to  the  south. 
One  time  men  from  Daviess,  Martin  and  Lawrence  Coun- 
ties drove  about  two  thousand  hogs  down  into  Crawford 
County  to  fatten  on  the  mast.    Although  most  of  the  land 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  165 

was  Congress  land,  our  good  people  became  angry  and 
killed  the  hogs.  When  the  case  was  brought  into  court 
men  swore  that  they  saw  the  smoke  and  heard  the  shots 
but  they  did  not  know  who  did  the  shooting.  Therefore 
the  drovers  lost  their  hogs. 

When  butchering  time  came  hundreds  of  men  were 
employed  all  along  the  river  to  help  the  men  who  owned 
the  hogs  in  their  work.  When  all  was  ready  the  hogs  were 
driven  in  and  butchered.  Each  man  had  an  ear  mark  by 
which  his  hogs  were  known.  Yet  many  settlers  lost  hogs 
which  they  in  turn  stole  from  some  other  man,  for  all  stock 
ran  out  then  in  the  deep  woods. 

On  one  occasion  a  man  found  a  calf  belonging  to 
Henry  Jackson  Landrus.  After  a  few  days  Landrus  found 
where  the  calf  was.  He  took  men  with  him  and  went  to 
identify  it.  When  he  came  to  the  barn-yard  the  calf 
knew  him  and  "bawled"  to  him.  Yet  he  could  not  prove 
that  it  was  his.     Therefore  the  finder  kept  it. 

Salt  was  one  of  the  most  useful  articles  of  all.  In  the 
early  days  the  state  kept  the  saline  springs  and  enough 
adjacent  land  to  furnish  wood  with  which  the  men  could 
boil  down  the  water  in  order  to  obtain  the  salt.  A  man 
would  travel  to  the  salt  lick  and  boil  enough  water  to 
make  a  barrel  of  salt,  then  journey  on  home.  In  the  early 
days  Indians  were  very  prevalent  about  these  licks  where 
many  bloody  encounters  occurred.  There  was  salt  found 
near  Mifflin  in  Crawford  County,  while  Royce's  and  Rock's 
licks  in  Washington  County  and  French's  lick  in  Orange 
County  and  Jackson's  lick  in  Monroe  County  were  the 
most  noted.  Often  settlers  rode  to  Jeffersonville  where 
they  bought  a  bushel  of  salt  and  returned.     They  were 


166  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

several  days  on  the  road.  When  the  boats  began  running 
in  the  twenties,  much  salt  could  be  had  at  Leavenworth 
and  Fredonia. 

Many  settlers  made  large  quantities  of  sugar  from  the 
maple  trees.  They  tapped  the  trees  with  an  auger,  put  in 
the  spile,  and  caught  the  sap  in  a  trough  cut  out  of  a 
poplar  log.  They  boiled  the  sap  down  in  large  kettles  and 
made  it  into  sugar.  There  were  8,300  pounds  made  in 
1858  at  a  value  of  $584. 

Another  food  product  much  relished  by  the  people  and 
widely  used  was  hominy.  The  farmer  shelled  his  corn  and 
soaked  it  in  lye  water  for  some  time.  Then  he  was  able 
to  remove  the  rough  hulls  of  the  corn.  The  grains  were 
then  soaked  in  clear  water  to  remove  the  lye.  When  they 
were  thoroughly  cleansed  the  housewife  cooked  the  corn 
till  it  was  done.  When  seasoned  well  it  made  a  fine  whole- 
some food. 

Coffee  made  its  appearance  in  the  early  days  of  the 
county.  Men  did  not  know  how  to  use  it.  Some  tried  to 
eat  it  but  that  was  not  very  enjoyable.  After  some  time  a 
wandering  peddler  came  to  the  county.  He  sold  some 
coffee  and  taught  the  pioneers  how  to  use  it.  They  were 
to  ' '  parch  it, ' '  grind  it  in  a  coffee  mill,  boil  it  in  water  and 
then  drink  the  water. 

The  law  required  a  license  to  sell  coffee  till  February 
10,  1843,  when  it  was  repealed.  Below  is  the  section  which 
was  repealed : 

"That  every  person  who  shall  in  proper  person,  or  by 
an  agent,  vend  any  merchandise  which  may  not  be  the 
product  of  the  United  States  without  having  a  license  or 
a  permit  to  do  so,  as  is  or  may  be  designated  and  required 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  167 

by  law,  shall  be  fined  in  any  sum  not  exceeding  $100. — Sec- 
tion 55.    Act  Feb.  10,  1831." 

Salt  was  much  needed  in  those  days.  The  pioneers 
went  in  groups  to  the  salt  licks  and  boiled  down  salt  water 
for  several  days  till  they  made  about  a  bushel  or  more 
for  each  of  them.  Then  they  came  home.  There  were 
wells  of  salt  water  on  Otter  Creek  in  Union  township. 
Later,  when  the  sulphur  water  was  found,  Mr.  Benham 
manufactured  salt.  Southwest  of  Hartford  in  section  29, 
township  2,  range  1  west,  on  Otter  Creek  Forks  of  Little 
Blue  River,  Ed  Hall  Golden  had  a  fine  well  of  artesian 
water  from  which  he  made  salt.  It  was  bored  for  oil  and 
sunk  to  a  depth  of  1,170  feet.  Some  oil  was  found  but  not 
in  any  paying  quantity.  The  best  salt  brine  was  reached 
at  the  depth  of  611  feet.  The  well  furnished  1,600  gallons 
of  brine  in  twelve  hours.  Eighty  gallons  of  brine  will 
make  a  bushel  of  salt.  He  had  sixteen  kettles,  each  of 
which  would  hold  100  gallons,  and  was  making  twenty-five 
barrels  of  salt  every  thirty-six  hours.  It  cost  about  17% 
cents  a  gallon  to  boil  down  the  brine. 

Mr.  Benham  in  section  33  had  two  good  wells  which 
yielded  the  same  quality  of  brine.  He  made  about  twelve 
barrels  per  day. 

The  farm  implements  were  of  the  crudest  type.  The 
plow  was  generally  a  single  shovel  with  a  coulter  on  in 
front.  This  was  used  in  new  ground  where  there  were 
many  roots  and  rocks.  Plowing  with  two  good  horses  with 
such  a  plow  was  rather  laborious.  If  the  coulter  caught  on 
a  root  or  a  rock  just  right  it  would  jump  out  and  let  the 
handles  strike  a  man  on  the  chin  or  hit  him  in  the  ribs  a 
blow  which  he  would  not  soon  forget.     Later,  a  double 


168  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

shovel  was  used  and  a  turning  plow.  A  few  harrows  were 
in  use  during  those  early  days,  but  many  farmers  used  a 
large  bush  to  drag  over  the  ground  after  they  had  sown 
their  wheat  or  oats. 

The  wheat  was  cut  with  a  cradle.  A  good  man  could 
cut  a  swath  about  six  feet  wide  down  the  side  of  a  field. 
A  man  would  follow  and  bind  the  grain  by  hand.  Often 
he  picked  up  bunches  of  blackberries,  sticking  his  fingers, 
and  sometimes  a  large  snake  might  be  gathered  in  the 
bunch,  which  of  course  generally  escaped  from  the  bundle 
unhurt  and  gave  the  binder  such  a  scare  that  he  ap- 
proached the  next  bunch  with  more  care. 

The  plowing  for  wheat  was  generally  done  in  August. 
In  those  good  old  days  there  were  nests  of  yellow- jackets, 
bumblebees  and  wasps  everywhere.  A  man  was  fortunate 
if  he  got  around  a  twenty-acre  field  without  plowing  out  a 
nest  of  yellow- jackets.  The  boys  enjoyed  the  sport  of 
fighting  them  the  best  kind,  but  the  farmer  was  not  much 
pleased  with  the  encounter. 

The  wheat  was  generally  beaten  out  by  hand.  Later 
an  old  floor  was  used  and  the  horses  tramped  out  the  grain 
and  the  farmer  fanned  it  until  it  was  clean. 

In  those  days  most  of  the  grinding  was  done  by  water 
power  and  horse  power.  Riley  Main  had  a  horse  mill  near 
Schooner  Point ;  Leggett  's  and  Lake 's  mills  were  on  Little 
Blue  River  lower  down  and  Froman's  and  Carnes'  mills 
were  also  on  Blue,  south  of  Grantsburg.  Cole's  mill,  near 
Wyandotte  Cave,  on  Big  Blue,  was  built  about  1840.  His 
mill  was  run  by  water.  Leavenworth'  had  a  mill  very 
early  and  Milltown  was  named  after  Leavenworth  who 
built  a  large  mill  there  about  1825. 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  1G9 

The  people  were  obliged  to  work  very  hard  day  in  and 
day  out.  Yet  they  were  fond  of  amusement.  The  old- 
fashioned  barbecue,  the  apple  cutting,  the  old-time  muster 
dance,  the  shooting  match  and  the  charivari  were  next  to  a 
circus.  The  barbecue  was  usually  a  political  meeting.  A 
hole  was  dug  in  the  ground  about  the  size  of  a  large  grave. 
This  was  filled  full  of  hickory  wood  and  burned  up,  then 
filled  and  burned  till  it  was  almost  full  of  live  coals  of  fire. 
This  hole  sent  out  a  great  quantity  of  heat.  The  beef  and 
mutton  parts  were  put  over  it  and  left  there  to  roast.  A 
whole  beef  might  be  roasted  at  once  by  such  a  method. 
When  all  was  ready  the  meat  was  cut  into  slices  about  like 
pancakes  and  handed  out  to  the  men  in  that  way.  There 
was  generally  much  speaking  on  such  occasions.  During 
the  Whig  campaign  of  1840  several  were  held  in  the  county. 

The  shooting  match  was  quite  common  till  late  in  the 
eighties.  Men  prided  themselves  on  their  guns.  To  be 
able  to  shoot  a  turkey's  head  off  a  hundred  yards  away 
was  a  good  shot.  The  beef  was  driven  in  and  men  put  up 
different  amounts.  For  instance,  it  might  be  $3.00  a 
chance  on  two  quarters  or  all  quarters.  All  present  went 
in  as  they  pleased.  Men  often  went  in  one  dollar  each  on 
the  hind  quarter.  These  men  were  entitled  to  shoot  at  a 
mark  a  certain  distance  away.  The  best  shot  took  the 
quarter  of  beef.  Some  men  were  so  sure  of  their  success 
that  they  took  a  rope  with  them  to  drive  home  the  beef. 
Andy  Sonner  did  so  on  many  occasions.  The  turkeys  were 
put  into  a  box  in  which  there  was  a  hole  in  the  top.  This 
hole  was  of  sufficient  size  to  let  the  bird 's  head  stick  out.  A 
man  gave  ten  cents  a  chance  at  the  head.  If  he  hit  the 
head  he  got  the  bird. 


170  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  old-fashioned  charivari  was  a  favorite  sport  for  all. 
Some  men  never  desired  any  such  entertainment.  Late  in 
the  fifties  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Francis  Forbes  lived 
near  Tower,  Indiana.  When  Wm.  Waldon  married  one 
of  his  daughters  he  swore  that  he  would  whip  the  whole 
pack  if  they  came  rioting  about  his  residence.  He  being 
a  bluff  old  fellow  frightened  out  all  the  boys  but  three 
men,  Henry  J.  Landrus,  Harvey  Melcom  and  Charles  W. 
Tower,  decided  that  he  must  be  serenaded.  Mr.  Landrus 
took  his  old  musket,  Charles  Wesley  Tower  took  his  long 
string  of  sheep  bells,  and  Mr.  Melcom  took  a  ' '  drum  bull. ' ' 
Mr.  Forbes  had  a  dog  named  "Tiger."  He  believed  that 
old  "Tige"  would  simply  eat  them  if  they  came.  So  that 
bright  night  in  January  with  snow  about  knee  deep  and 
the  thermometer  hovering  around  zero  found  this  trio  of 
daredevils  approaching  "Uncle  Frank's"  home.  Landrus 
stuck  his  gun  between  the  ash  hopper  and  the  old-fashioned 
picket  fence  and  fired  off  the  gun  just  about  a  foot  over 
"Tiger's"  head  where  he  was  sleeping  in  his  warm  cozy 
nest.  He  bounded  out  and  ran  around  the  house,  only  to 
meet  Tower  rattling  about  twenty-five  sheep  bells  strung 
on  his  back.  Dodging  Tower  the  poor  dog  met  Melcom 
who  pulled  the  rosined  raw-hide  string  through  the  head 
of  the  drum  bull,  letting  out  the  most  horrible  noise  one 
could  ever  imagine.  With  one  tremendous  leap  "Tige" 
cleared  the  fence  and  escaped.  About  that  time  the  door 
flew  open  and  out  ran  Uncle  Frank  barefooted,  with  noth- 
ing on  but  his  night  clothes  and  pursued  the  famous  trio, 
who  by  now  had  left  the  yard  and  were  running  down  the 
state  road.  He  made  speed  and  was  just  about  to  catch 
Charles  Tower  who  was  handicapped  with  all  the  sheep 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  171 

bells.  Just  one  more  leap  and  he  would  have  his  victim, 
but  at  the  critical  point  Tower  dodged  to  one  side  in  the 
snow  and  stopped.  "Uncle  Frank"  tried  to  stop  but  his 
feet  slipped  out  from  under  him  and  he  coasted,  naked  as 
he  was,  for  some  distance  in  the  snow.  In  the  meantime 
Tower  had  escaped. 

Next  day  the  news  spread  like  wildfire  and  by  night 
a  large  number  of  men  with  drums  and  fifes  came.  They 
lined  up  and  marched  down  the  state  road  beating  the 
drums  and  playing  the  fifes.  The  crowd  knew  that  Mr. 
Forbes  enjoyed  martial  music  very  much.  Before  the  first 
selection  was  completed  he  came  out  and  walked  around 
the  crowd  for  a  minute  or  two  and  then  said,  "Well,  I 
Gar,  I  said  that  I  would  whip  them  but  I  did  not  agree 
to  fight  all  Crawford  County."  One  of  the  men  asked 
Mr.  Forbes  if  he  did  not  want  to  beat  one  tune  on  the 
snare-drum,  which  he  did.  Then  after  playing  another 
selection  or  two  the  crowd  left.  But  they  knew  that  he 
would  cause  them  trouble,  so  they  sent  a  man  to  Leaven- 
worth and  told  Attorney  Samuel  B.  Pepper  all  that 
had  happened.  The  men  had  hardly  departed,  early  the 
next  day,  when  Mr.  Forbes  came  into  the  office  and  wanted 
to  prosecute  about  186  of  his  neighbors.  So  the  following 
conversation  occurred : 

Mr.  Pepper :  Now  Mr.  Forbes,  this  is  a  serious  thing, 
to  prosecute  186  men.     May  I  ask  what  they  were  doing? 

Mr.  Forbes :  They  were  rioting,  beating  the  drums,  and 
playing  the  fifes. 

Mr.  Pepper :  Now,  Mr.  Forbes,  how  could  you  stay  in 
the  house  when  the  drums  were  being  beaten? 


172  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Mr.  Forbes :     I  came  out  with  the  crowd. 

Mr.  Pepper :  Now,  Mr.  Forbes,  how  could  you  keep 
from  beating  the  drum,  too,  seeing  you  like  music  so  well? 

Mr.  Forbes:    Well,  I  did  beat  one  tune. 

Mr.  Pepper:  Then,  Mr.  Forbes,  I  shall  have  to  put 
your  name  in,  too,  with  the  rest. 

After  thinking  the  matter  over  for  a  time  he  said : 
"Mr.  Pepper,  just  wait  a  few  days  till  I  have  had  more 
time  to  think  about  the  matter. ' '    He  never  came  back. 

From  the  forties  on  there  was  a  tremendous  business 
done  by  flatboating  on  the  Ohio  River.  The  flatboat  was 
loaded  with  corn,  lime  or  other  articles.  The  hay  boat 
or  corn  boat  was  much  more  pleasant  on  which  to  work. 
The  lime  boat  was  dangerous  should  any  water  get  on  the 
lime  barrels.  The  boats  stopped  at  most  all  the  towns  and 
sold  corn  and  other  produce.  The  man  when  he  reached 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  either  sold  the  boat  or  had  it  towed 
up  the  river  home. 

Life  on  the  river  was  pleasant  when  the  weather  was 
good,  but  woe  betide  the  man  who  was  caught  out  on  the 
river  when  a  storm  came.  The  flatboat  was  generally  pro- 
pelled with  a  steering  oar.  Besides  the  corn  and  lime  boats, 
there  were  boats  loaded  with  packed  meat  and  whiskey. 

There  were  men  up  and  down  the  river  who  delighted 
in  telling  great  lies.  On  one  occasion  a  man  was  floating 
down  the  river.  As  he  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  a 
man  called  from  the  bank  and  said  that  they  had  better 
not  go  far  down  the  river  for  the  recent  earthquake  had 
caused  the  river  to  fall  in  a  deep  hole  and  sink.  The  cap- 
tain cried,  "to  the  oars,  boys,  back!"     That  man  was  only 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  173 

fooling  the  man,  he  himself  floating  on  down  the  river  in 
safety. 

In  the  early  days  much  fruit  was  grown  in  Crawford 
County.  It  was  made  into  brandy  and  shipped  away  or 
the  apples  were  sold  by  the  barrel. 

The  old-fashioned  lime  kiln  was  a  great  source  of 
wealth  in  those  days.  A  large  kiln  generally  held  a  great 
quantity  of  lime.  It  was  put  into  barrels  and  shipped 
south  on  a  flatboat.  The  old-time  kiln  was  a  hole  about 
fifteen  feet  deep  and  ten  feet  in  diameter.  One  usually  dug 
such  a  pit  on  a  steep  hillside  where  he  could  dig  in  from 
the  lower  part  for  the  furnace.  The  kiln  being  filled,  one 
fired  it  by  burning  wood  in  the  eye  of  the  pit.  All  up  and 
down  the  river  one  finds  traces  of  these  old  pits  or  kilns. 

Most  all  the  lime  was  shipped  out  on  flatboats.  The 
boats  were  being  built  every  day  up  and  down  the  river.  A 
lumber  man  generally  marked  the  trees  for  the  gunwales. 
Poplars  were  chosen,  ones  about  eighty  good  feet  to  the 
limbs.  They  were  cut  down  in  the  spring  and  scored  and 
hewed  till  they  were  about  eight  inches  thick  and  two  or 
three  feet  wide.  Small  studding  were  set  on  the  gunwale 
and  sided  up  some  and  covered.  A  long  steering  oar  with 
a  long  sweep  was  out  on  the  top  of  the  boat.  By  it  men 
guided  the  boat  as  it  floated  down  the  stream.  Life  out 
on  the  river  was  dangerous  at  nights,  therefore  most  boats 
had  a  "watch."  Sometimes  robbers  would  slip  up  and 
"coon"  the  boat  and  steal  all  the  money  the  men  had, 
even  killing  the  watches  at  times. 

The  farmers  cleared  up  their  land  as  fast  as  they 
needed  it.  Rails  were  split  out  of  walnut  and  white  oak 
for  the  fences.     The  fences  were  generally  built  about  ten 


174         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

rails  high.  Sometimes  the  fences  were  staked  and  ridered 
or  simply  locked.  These  rails  were  about  four  inches  thick 
and  ten  feet  long. 

The  first  wire  fence  ever  brought  into  the  county  was 
bought  by  William  Perry  Everdon.  The  fence  ran  from 
the  house  of  Walter  Coleman  north  on  the  Marengo  road. 
The  fence  was  built  many  years  after  the  Civil  War.  Prob- 
ably the  first  self-binder  ever  brought  into  the  county  was 
owned  by  E.  E.  Richardson. 

The  good  housewife  had  her  share  of  the  burden  to 
bear.  It  was  not  light  by  any  means.  She  cared  for  the 
geese  in  order  to  have  feathers  for  bedding.  It  was  the 
custom  to  give  each  girl  a  feather-bed  when  she  married. 

Enough  chickens  were  raised  to  furnish  eggs  for  cook- 
ing. The  woman  used  them  freely  in  cooking  cornbread 
and  cakes.  Above  all,  it  was  a  social  custom  to  have  a 
yellow-legged  chicken  each  Sunday  when  the  preacher 
came. 

In  the  early  days  men  dried  apples  and  peaches  on  a 
dry  kiln.  These  old-fashioned  kilns  were  built  of  rock. 
There  were  places  for  firing  and  drying  the  fruit.  The 
women  canned  fruit,  made  cider  out  of  crab-apples,  wine 
out  of  grapes,  jellies  of  all  kinds,  maple  syrup,  spice  brush, 
sassafras,  balsam,  sage  for  the  sausage.  The  kitchen  was  a 
store  house.  The  cellar  was  filled  with  apples,  potatoes  and 
turnips,  while  the  main  quantity  was  buried  or  pitted 
away. 

Before  the  Civil  War  Crawford  County  was  filled  with 
strong  men.  They  might  walk  twenty  miles  any  day  on  a 
deer  hunt.     The  hardy  farmer  generally  reared  a  family 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS      175 

of  eight  to  ten  and  fifteen  children.  The  father  was  the 
ideal  of  the  boys,  while  the  mother  was  a  queen  over  the 
daughters.  The  evening  was  spent  around  the  huge  chim- 
ney on  a  wintry  night  while  the  parents  played  games 
with  the  children.    Such  was  the  happy  life  of  the  farmer. 

The  courting  was  done  in  a  manner  much  different  from 
now  days.  The  old  couple  generally  slept  in  the  main  liv- 
ing room.  When  the  old  man  and  his  wife  had  retired  then 
the  young  people  sat  up  before  the  fire  and  did  their  spark- 
ing. On  one  occasion  a  very  old  gentleman  told  the  writer 
that  he  was  watching  the  old  lady  who  was  peeping  out 
from  under  the  "kivers"  at  him.  He  had  no  chance  at  a 
kiss  until  the  fire  got  low.  Then  he  happened  to  think  of 
his  tobacco.  Filling  his  mouth  with  a  large  chew,  he  began 
to  fire  away  at  the  fire  stick  which  was  blazing.  After 
several  minutes  he  mastered  the  blaze.  The  room  being 
moderately  dark  he  had  just  time  to  get  his  kiss  when  he 
heard  a  rustling  in  the  bed  and  on  looking  around  he  saw 
the  old  lady  with  her  night  cap  on  begin  crawling  out  of 
bed.  He  expected  the  worst  but  she  just  came  to  the  fire 
and  stirred  it  up  with  her  long  poker.  He  thought  that 
he  had  better  leave  about  that  time. 

John  0.  Nash  of  Marengo  told  a  story  of  how  he  went 
home  with  a  girl  about  the  year  of  1858.  After  taking  her 
home  they  talked  till  they  were  tired,  and  he  decided  that 
he  would  stay  over  night.  The  old-fashioned  boot-jack 
was  missing  so  he  could  not  get  his  boots  off.  The  girl  took 
hold  of  the  boots  and  by  strenuous  efforts  assisted  him  to 
pull  them  off.  Yet  he  said  that  the  girls  were  just  as  moral 
then  as  they  could  be. 

The    men    in    those    early    days    wore    cow-hide    boots 


176  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

reaching  to  their  knees.  These  were  sewed  so  well  that  one 
could  wade  water  all  day  with  them  on  and  not  get  one's 
feet  wet.  Such  a  thing  as  a  pair  of  rubbers  or  overshoes 
was  unknown. 

The  hunting  was  done  with  an  old-fashioned  flint-lock 
gun  at  first,  but  later  a  long  barreled  Kentucky  rifle  was 
used.  It  had  double  triggers.  One  set  the  trigger  first. 
Then  sight  was  taken.  When  the  aim  was  just  right  one 
pulled  the  second  set  of  triggers.  The  weight  of  a  hair 
was  almost  sufficient  to  fire  the  gun,  after  the  trigger  was 
set. 

The  Methodist  ministers  and  Christians  were  on  the 
field  early.  One  can  not  give  too  much  credit  to  the  work 
of  those  early  circuit  riders.  The  oldest  Christian  church 
was  the  Blue  River  meeting  house,  near  what  is  now  Eng- 
lish. The  Baptists  were  also  on  the  ground  early.  These 
ministers  suffered  untold  hardships  and  many  insults.  On 
one  occasion  a  minister  was  conducting  a  baptismal  service 
near  Alton  when  an  unbeliever  who  wanted  to  see  some 
fun,  who  lived  in  a  cabin  near  Little  Blue,  came  down  to 
the  bank  and  caught  his  dog  in  his  arms.  A  foot-log  about 
the  distance  of  six  feet  from  the  water  reached  across  the 
river  which  was  about  thirty  or  forty  feet  wide.  He 
walked  out  on  that  log  with  his  dog  still  in  his  arms. 
Several  of  the  men  in  the  crowd  on  the  bank  wanted  to  go 
and  persuade  him  to  leave,  but  the  minister  said :  ' '  Just 
let  him  go."  When  he  was  out  over  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  he  prepared  to  baptize  his  dog.  The  dog  became 
scared  and  kept  kicking  around  till  it  got  one  foot  under 
his  suspender.  He  repeated  the  little  speech  that  he  bap- 
tized him  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS      177 

Ghost,  upon  which  he  intended  to  hurl  the  dog  into  the 
river,  but  the  dog  gave  such  a  kick  that  the  man  lost  his 
balance  and  fell  into  the  river  too.  He  went  under  for 
several  seconds,  but  soon  arose  and  swam  to  the  shore,  a 
wetter  but  wiser  man  than  before. 

The  Methodist  people  organized  a  class  at  what  is  now 
Tower  about  1858.  The  men  used  Gaines  Patrick's  cooper 
shop  for  a  church  till  the  old  Tower  Chapel  church  was 
built  about  1858.  It  is  about  five  miles  north  of  Leaven- 
worth. 

Among  the  many  noted  men  who  have  gone  out  from 
Crawford  County  one  may  mention  Mr.  William  H.  Ken- 
dall, who  at  the  date  of  writing  is  the  minister  of  the 
Memorial  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indianapolis,  and  John 
Hanger,  who  is  a  Methodist  in  Indianapolis. 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  are  extremely  Prot- 
estant and  temperate.  After  the  enactment  of  the  County 
Unit  in  local  option  an  election  was  held  in  Crawford 
County  on  May  26,  1909.  The  drys  received  1,436  votes 
and  the  wets  had  683. 

Colored  people  rarely  have  lived  in  Crawford  County. 
Before  the  Civil  War  one  lived  for  a  short  time  down  in 
Ohio  township.  About  1922  a  few  colored  men  lived  on 
the  Government  Reservation  above  Leavenworth.  They 
sent  two  colored  children  up  to  the  Leavenworth  public 
schools.  Much  confusion  arose,  but  fortunately  no  one 
was  hurt,  but  the   children  were  badly  frightened. 

Later  one  or  two  colored  women  came  down  to  the  high 
school  to  attend  the  Parent-Teachers'  Association.  They 
came  into  the  hallway  but  no  one  welcomed  them.    So  they 


178  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

went  away.  Later  the  colored  people  moved  away  and 
the  excitement  died  with  their  going. 

Coal  may  be  seen  cropping  out  of  the  ground  at  various 
places  in  Crawford  County,  but  not  much  has  been  done 
toward  mining  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  wood. 

In  November,  1920,  the  English  and  Princeton  Coal  and 
Oil  Company  opened  a  mine  on  Henry  Wright's  farm 
south  of  Taswell  under  the  supervision  of  M.  S.  Spurling 
who  was  a  licensed  coal  miner.  The  vein  was  about  four 
feet  thick  and  the  coal  of  a  fine  grade,  containing  a  good 
quantity  of  carbon.  The  mine  was  opened  on  November 
20th.  There  was  a  ready  market  for  all  the  coal  that  the 
company  could  dig  from  the  mine. 

In  the  good  old  days  one  made  shoe  polish  out  of  elder 
berries.  The  ripe  berries  were  gathered  and  the  juice 
squeezed  out  of  them  in  a  course  cloth.  Then  the  juice  was 
boiled  down  till  it  became  thick.  One  generally  applied 
the  polish  with  a  feather.  The  juice  also  made  an  excellent 
quality  of  ink,  but  was  never  as  popular  as  pokeberry  juice 
for  ink. 

The  custom  of  binding  out  boys  and  girls  till  they  were 
eighteen  or  twenty-one  years  old  existed  in  the  early  days. 
The  following  ads  appeared  in  the  Leavenworth  Arena  on 
November  21,  1839 :  "One  Cent  Reward.  Run  away  from 
the  subscriber  on  Nov.  4,  1839.  A  bound  boy  by  name  of 
Simon  McComb.  Supposed  to  be  about  14  years  old,  very 
small  for  his  age.  Has  heavy  eyebrows,  rather  flaring  look 
about  his  eyes.  Any  one  returning  him  to  the  subscriber 
will  receive  one  cent  and  no  thanks.  Stephen  Roberson, 
Union  Township.   .    .    . " 

Also  Mr.  James  B.  Humley  escaped  without  paying  his 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS  179 

grog  bill:     "Reward  of  one   cent.     John   Tadlock,  hotel 
keeper.    December  5,  1839." 

The  people  in  those  early  days  were  required  to  do 
militia  service.  As  early  as  1838  one  finds  in  the  Leaven- 
worth Arena  a  notice  warning  all  the  militia  within  the 
boundary  of  these  points :  Commencing  at  Big  Bine  River 
where  the  Governor's  Old  Trail  crosses  the  river  and  fol- 
lowing the  trail  west  to  the  Milltown  and  Leavenworth 
road,  thence  down  the  road  to  the  Rome  road,  thence  to 
the  Ohio  township  line,  thence  south  to  the  Ohio  River. 
Then  up  the  river  to  the  Big  Blue  River.  That  will  include 
most  all  of  Jennings  township  east  of  the  Fredonia  and 
Paoli  roads.  The  militia  in  that  territory  were  to  meet  on 
July  28,  1838,  at  Leavenworth  and  elect  a  captain,  one 
lieutenant  and  one  ensign  to  command  the  company  which 
was  the  Twenty-third  Regiment  of  Indiana  Militia.  Notice 
was  signed  by  William  Mansfield,  Colonel. 

Not  all  the  men  attended  these  muster  days  willingly. 
One  finds  this  notice :  David  Cole  was  ordered  to  attend 
the  battalion  muster,  May  29,  1841,  at  John  Martain's  with 
his  company  as  the  law  required. 

Many  interesting  items  of  news  are  found  in  the  Whig 
Arena.  The  notice  of  the  lost  child  was  given.  It  seems 
that  the  little  son  of  Silas  Davidson  had  left  home  with  his 
dog  to  hunt.  The  boy  was  not  over  ten  years  of  age.  He 
never  returned.  A  thorough  search  was  made  for  the  boy 
by  over  three  hundred  people  but  no  trace  of  the  lad  was 
ever  found.  The  dog  and  child  were  probably  eaten  by 
the  wild  animals.     The  child  was  lost  in  December,  1841. 

Sports  in  the  early  days  consisted  of  wrestling,  foot 
racing,  jumping,  sticking  pegs  and  many  other  contests. 


180  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Hardly  any  great  barbecue  would  be  held  without  a 
foot  race.  At  the  great  Whig  barbecue  held  in  Fredonia 
in  1840  the  race  between  Asa  Buckles  and  Tom  Tarr  at- 
tracted as  much  attention  as  the  Whig  speeches. 

The  old-fashioned  games  of  three-cornered  cat,  round 
town  ball,  long  town  ball,  hat  ball,  baseball  and  many  others 
were  played  by  the  boys.  Hat  ball  was  a  very  brutal  game. 
The  victim  was  placed  with  his  face  to  the  wall  while  the 
other  boys  were  allowed  so  many  throws  at  him.  The  sus- 
pense under  which  the  victim  was  while  waiting  for  the 
ball  to  strike  was  telling. 

The  social  evenings  were  spent  in  old-fashioned  apple 
cuttings,  "shucking  bees,"  dances,  play  parties  and  spell- 
ing matches. 

At  the  spelling  bee  old-fashioned  Japanese  lanterns 
were  hung  up  in  which  a  candle  was  placed.  The  teacher 
chose  two  to  divide  the  house.  After  spelling  for  about 
one  hour  there  was  an  intermission  at  which  the  young 
people  crowded  out  to  play  games  of  various  kinds.  Tap 
was  one  of  the  favorites.  After  rest  the  crowd  was 
divided  and  some  time  spent  in  spelling.  The  climax 
came  when  the  crowd  stood  up  around  the  wall  and  spelled 
for  major.  One  had  a  fair  chance.  If  he  missed  the 
word  then  he  sat  down.  The  man  who  stood  the  longest 
carried  away  the  floor. 

Crawford  County  produced  some  of  the  best  spellers 
in  the  state.  One  may  name  Jephtha  Turley,  Thad  Riddle, 
Logan  Riddle,  "Farmer"  Brown,  Sherman  Smith  and 
George  C.  Smith.  In  later  years  Alfred  Turley  won  a 
wide  distinction  for  his  success  in  winning  the  floor  on  all 


OCCUPATIONS  AND  CUSTOMS      181 

occasions.  As  far  as  ever  known  George  C.  Smith  was 
the  only  man  who  ever  spelled  Jephtha  Turley  down. 

But  the  old  time  sports  are  gone.  New  sports  have 
come  to  claim  our  attention.  Basketball  came  into  onr 
midst.  Men  fought  its  advent.  At  Leavenworth  the  town 
"dads"  tried  to  enact  an  ordinance  prohibiting  basketball. 
They  claimed  that  it  broke  down  the  code  of  ethics  estab- 
lished by  their  grandfathers.  Later  the  basketball  faction 
won  out. 

With  these  scattered  remarks  about  our  people  and 
their  occupations  the  writer  will  close  this  discussion. 


CHAPTER  XII 


EDUCATION 


After  the  American  Republic  was  established  in 
1789,  the  fact  was  recognized  that  the  safety  and  welfare 
of  a  nation  depended  upon  the  education  and  the  training 
of  its  citizens.  The  Federal  Government  having  received 
the  Northwest  Territory  from  the  several  states,  ordered 
it  surveyed  and  divided  into  townships.  The  sixteenth 
section  of  each  township  was  given  to  the  people  of  that 
township  for  school  purposes.  Thus  our  National  Govern- 
ment encouraged  education. 

The  first  school  law  was  enacted  in  1808  after  Indiana 
was  organized  as  a  territory.  This  law  provided  that  the 
school  land  could  be  leased  to  men  if  they  would  clear  ten 
acres  during  the  time  of  the  lease  which  was  to  run  for  five 
years. 

Indiana  became  a  state  in  1816.  The  first  school  law 
passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Indiana  was  passed  in 
1816.  This  law  provided  for  the  care  of  the  land  by 
appointing  a  superintendent  for  each  congressional  town- 
ship. 

The  board  doing  county  business  in  Crawford  County 
met  at  the  court  house  in  Fredonia,  January  3,  1825,  and 
appointed  these  men  as  superintendents  of  the  various 
townships:     Allen  D.  Thorn,  township  four  south,  range 

182 


EDUCATION  183 

one  west;  Peter  McMichael,  township  two  south,  range 
two  west;  William  Anderson,  township  three  south,  range 
one  east;  Thomas  Cummings,  George  Jones  and  Charles 
Springer  were  appointed  for  Ohio  township. 

The  superintendent  could  lease  the  unimproved  land  to 
any  man  at  the  rate  of  160  acres  of  land  to  each  man  for 
seven  years,  while  the  improved  land  could  be  had  for  three 
years,  providing  the  renter  set  out  annually  twenty-five 
apple  trees  and  twenty-five  peach  trees.  The  law  did  not 
state  on  what  land  these  trees  were  to  be  set.  So  some 
men  set  them  on  their  own  land.  The  superintendents 
held  their  office  for  two  years  and  received  whatever  salary 
the  board  saw  fit  to  grant  them. 

That  same  year  the  General  Assembly  tried  to  pass  a 
school  law  which  was  very  simple  in  its  provisions,  the 
chief  ones  of  which  were:  (1)  When  twenty  land  owners 
in  any  township  petitioned  the  county  commissioners,  re- 
questing them  to  call  an  election,  at  which  three  township 
trustees  were  elected  for  school  purposes.  These  trustees 
were  granted  unrestricted  powers  to  make  all  rules  and 
regulation  for  the  schools  when  any  one  was  established. 
At  the  same  time  the  Governor  was  authorized  to  appoint 
a  superintendent  for  the  seminary  townships. 

Notwithstanding  the  gloomy  situation,  a  number  of 
schools  sprang  up  in  various  parts  of  the  state.  The  writer 
has  not  been  able  to  locate  any  one  in  Crawford  County. 
The  school  district  was  the  unit.  The  people  in  the  district 
decided  whether  they  wanted  a  school  or  not.  Often  family 
feuds  ruined  schools  in  the  early  days. 

An  act  of  the  General  Assembly  dated  January  26, 
1818,  empowered  the  Governor  to  appoint  a  seminary  trus- 


184  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

tee  for  each  county.  This  officer  was  to  accumulate  a  sem- 
inary fund  from  fines  and  forfeitures  as  provided  in  the 
law  and  to  loan  the  fund  out  to  the  best  advantage. 

The  trustees  were  allowed  six  per  cent,  of  all  the  money 
collected  for  their  services.  Elisha  Tadlock  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  seminary  trustee.  The  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  laid  his  report  before  the  General 
Assembly  on  December  13,  1821.  At  that  time  Trustee 
Tadlock  had  $100.50  on  hands.  The  records  are  not  com- 
plete, but  one  is  able  to  find  the  following  list  of  seminary 
trustees:  Elisha  Tadlock,  1821;  William  Dodd,  1824; 
Andrew  Kinkaid,  1825;  Henry  Atkins,  1826;  William 
Anderson,  1830;  John  L.  Smith,  1832;  William  Course, 
1835. 

The  first  real  school  law  was  enacted  in  1824.  It  was 
entitled:  "An  Act  to  Incorporate  Congressional  Town- 
ships and  Providing  for  the  Public  Schools  Therein."  It 
provided  for  the  election  of  three  township  trustees  for 
each  township,  who  were  empowered  to  locate  school  dis- 
tricts appointing  for  them  three  district  trustees,  and  to 
manage  the  school  fund. 

Under  this  law  every  able-bodied  man  over  twenty-one 
years  old  being  a  householder  or  a  land  owner  was  liable 
to  one  day's  work  each  week  in  his  district  until  the  house 
was  completed.  If  he  failed  to  work  out  his  time,  he  had 
to  pay  for  it  at  S7y2  cents  a  day.  The  settler  could  donate 
material  if  he  wished,  for  which  he  received  credit.  When 
the  people  of  a  district  had  completed  the  house  the  town- 
ship trustees  came  and  inspected  the  building.  If  the 
house  was  not  satisfactory  the  workmen  were  recalled  and 
the  corrections  made.     Then  the  trustees  gave  the  people 


EDUCATION  185 

the  right  to  use  the  house.  The  men  usually  divided  them- 
selves into  choppers,  hewers  and  the  corner  workers.  All 
the  houses  erected  in  Crawford  County  were  log  houses. 
When  the  day  came  for  a  house  raising  there  was  always 
plenty  on  hand  to  drink. 

When  the  house  was  completed  the  trustees  called  the 
people  together  at  the  school-house  to  see  if  they  wished 
to  have  a  school  taught.  If  they  did  then  they  must  raise 
the  funds  to  pay  the  teacher  and  set  the  date  for  the  be- 
ginning of  school.  The  district  trustees  collected  all 
donations  and  employed  a  teacher  on  the  most  advan- 
tageous terms,  and  were  to  report  all  their  proceedings  to 
the  township  trustees. 

One  of  the  first  state  superintendents  described  these 
old  log  schools  as  follows:  "Most  of  them  were  delap- 
idated  log  buildings,  located  in  some  out-of-the-way  place 
in  the  woods,  often  in  the  midst  of  a  mud-hole,  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  stagnant  pools  and  heaps  of  underbrush,  in- 
fecting the  air  with  their  deadly  miasma,  a  place  fit  for 
nothing  and  of  course  not  fit  for  a  school.  The  house  itself 
was  a  square  cabin  with  a  rickety  old  door  with  one  hinge 
broken,  which  would  not  allow  it  to  close  well.  The  win- 
dows were  long  and  narrow  and  placed  wherever  chance 
offered  without  regard  to  the  distribution  of  light,  with  half 
of  the  panes  out,  curtainless  and  shutterless.  The  floor 
was  made  of  loose  puncheons,  all  of  which  were  very  un- 
satisfactory."  One  may  see  the  entire  report  in  volume 
one,  page  26,  of  State  Superintendent  Larrabee's  report. 

Mr.  Larrabee  did  not  exaggerate  the  situation  of  the 
school  houses.  Several  in  Crawford  County  were  situated 
in  just   such   conditions.     Irving 's   old   school,   Magnolia, 


186  HISTOEY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Byerly's  and  Number  Ten  were  examples.  Irving 's  school 
was  located  on  a  hillside  west  of  Leavenworth  about  two 
miles.  Cunningham's  school-house  was  located  on  the  old 
Hartford  road  south  of  English  two  miles.  At  the  three 
forks  of  Little  Blue  an  old  log  house  was  still  standing 
after  the  Civil  War. 

The  general  law  of  1824  provided  that  the  township 
trustees  should  hold  their  office  for  three  years  or  until 
their  successors  were  elected.  They  gave  a  bond  for  $1,000 
each  for  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties.  The 
trustees  of  the  township  met  and  organized  by  electing  one 
of  their  members  president  and  appointed  a  clerk  and  a 
treasurer.  In  a  month  after  their  election  they  were  to 
divide  the  township  into  a  number  of  school  districts  and 
prescribe  the  boundaries  of  each.  They  appointed  three 
district  trustees  for  each  school. 

The  district  trustees  were  to  meet  in  ten  days  after 
their  appointment  and  call  a  meeting  of  the  patrons  who 
were  to  decide  whether  they  wanted  a  school-house  built. 
The  site  was  selected  on  which  to  build  a  house  and  the 
date  set  for  the  construction  of  the  house. 

As  soon  as  the  school-house  was  completed  the  township 
trustees  came  together  and  accepted  it  and  gave  the  district 
trustees  permission  to  use  the  house.  The  houses  were 
numbered  in  order  of  the  building.  Those  in  Jennings 
township  were  numbered :  Baker  No.  1 ;  Mansfield  No.  2 ; 
Dillman  No.  3 ;  Magnolia  No.  4 ;  Archibald  No.  5 ;  McLane 
No.  6 ;  Wyandotte  No.  7  ;  Borden  No.  8 ;  Irving  No.  9  ;  Cates 
No.  10;  Centerville  No.  11,  and  Shafer  No.  12.  Other 
townships  were  named  in  a  similar  order.  Many  of  the  dis- 
tricts have  been  changed  and  new  names  given  since  1856. 


EDUCATION  187 

Under  the  law  the  district  trustees  were  empowered  to 
employ  a  teacher  on  the  most  advantageous  terms.  In  no 
case  was  a  teacher  to  be  employed  unless  he  was  duly 
qualified. 

In  1824  this  law  looked  very  well  on  paper  but  it  soon 
appeared  that  it  had  many  defects,  one  of  which  was  the 
district  plan  which  required  pupils  to  attend  school  in 
their  own  district.  This  was  very  poor,  for  a  school  might 
be  just  across  the  line  in  another  district  from  a  settler's 
cabin  and  his  own  school  might  be  several  miles  away. 
State  Superintendent  Larrabee  says  that  he  came  near 
being  cheated  out  of  his  education  by  this  injudicious  sys- 
tem. In  a  few  cases  men  in  Crawford  County  were  allowed 
to  send  their  pupils  to  other  districts.  The  trustees  of  Ohio 
township  met  at  Alton  September  6,  1845,  and  ordered  that 
Eosana  Riley,  who  lived  in  district  No.  5,  be  allowed  to 
send  her  pupils  to  district  No.  4.  Indiana  was  the  first 
state  to  discard  the  old  district  system. 

So  far  the  only  revenue  to  support  the  schools  was  paid 
by  the  pioneers  in  money,  produce  and  whatever  the 
teacher  would  accept,  and  the  revenue  yielded  by  the  six- 
teenth section  which  of  course  was  not  much.  By  1828 
men  believed  that  it  would  be  best  to  sell  the  sixteenth 
section  and  use  the  interest  off  of  the  money.  A  new  law 
in  1828  allowed  the  free-holders  to  vote  whether  they  would 
sell  the  land  or  not.  The  election  was  held  in  August  on 
the  fourth  Monday,  1828,  in  Crawford  County,  and  the 
majority  of  people  voted  to  sell  the  land.  In  Ohio  town- 
ship the  citizens  voted,  forty  to  sell  and  three  not  to  sell 
their  section.  The  author  was  not  able  to  secure  other  data 
on  the  vote  since  the  records  have  been  destroyed. 


188  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  board  of  trustees  met  at  the  home  of  John  Morgan 
in  Fredonia  and  divided  up  the  section  into  the  following 
parts  and  set  the  following  prices:  Lot  1  at  $2.50  per 
acre;  lot  2  at  $2.50  per  acre;  lot  3  at  $1.87y2  per  acre; 
lot  4  at  $2.66  2/3  per  acre;  lot  5  at  $3  1/6;  lot  6  at  $1.25 
per  acre  and  lot  7  at  $1.25  per  acre. 

The  county  commissioners  in  January,  1833,  ordered 
the  sheriff  to  notify  the  voters  in  the  congressional  town- 
ship two  south,  range  two  east  to  meet  at  the  home  of 
James  Mulky  on  the  last  Saturday  in  March  and  elect  three 
township  trustees  who  were  to  divide  up  the  township  into 
districts.  The  voters  in  township  three  south  were  to  meet 
at  John  Neal's  house  and  elect  three  township  trustees  for 
that  township  which  was  in  range  two  east. 

The  new  law  of  1831  provided  for  a  county  school  com- 
missioner whose  term  of  office  was  three  years  and  who  was 
to  have  general  supervision  over  the  school  monies. 

In  1832  the  General  Assembly  passed  a  new  school  law 
which  provided  for  a  school  fund.  The  funds  were  to  be 
derived  from  the  tax  upon  lots  owned  by  foreigners.  At 
that  time  many  farmers  owned  land  in  Crawford  County 
and  lived  in  other  parts  of  the  state.  Not  much  money 
was  derived  from  the  sale  of  such  land.  Then  the  interest 
on  the  money  paid  for  the  land  in  the  sixteenth  section  was 
added  to  this  sum  which  formed  the  basis  of  our  common 
school  funds.  The  school  commissioners  were  to  loan  out 
the  money  and  use  the  interest  for  the  schools.  No  pro- 
vision was  made  in  the  law  for  the  protection  of  the  funds. 

The  whole  school  system  of  Crawford  County  was  re- 
vised by  the  new  law  enacted  in  1837.  The  principal 
changes    were :      The    school    commissioner    in    Crawford 


EDUCATION  189 

County  shall  have  power  to  appoint  the  township  trustees 
in  all  townships  where  no  trustees  were  elected. 

The  voters  of  each  school  district  were  empowered  to 
elect  three  district  trustees  who  had  almost  absolute  power 
over  the  schools  of  their  districts.  They  selected  the 
teachers  and  gave  them  examinations.  If  a  teacher  had  a 
certificate  granted  by  the  examiner  the  district  trustees 
could  still  make  him  take  the  examination.  This  was  one 
of  the  weakest  points  in  the  law. 

The  circuit  court  of  each  county  was  empowered  to 
appoint  three  county  examiners  who  were  authorized  to 
examine  and  license  teachers.  The  district  trustees  could 
accept  their  grading  if  they  wished  and  if  they  did  not, 
then  they  examined  the  candidates. 

Under  this  law  each  man  was  entitled  to  his  part  of  the 
school  funds  and  he  could  withdraw  the  same  if  he  wished. 

Such  a  law  was  very  poor  indeed,  but  that  was  a  dark 
age  for  the  schools  everywhere  in  the  United  States. 

Many  of  our  teachers  now  days  will  be  interested  to  see 
the  form  of  the  certificates  issued  in  Crawford  County 
then.  It  was  worded  as  follows:  I  or  we,  examiners  of 
teachers  for  the  common  schools  of  Crawford  County  hav- 
ing examined touching  his  qualifications 

to  teach  a  common  school,  do  certify  that  he  or  she  is  well 
qualified  to  teach (subjects)   

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  this  day  of 

18.... 


(Signature  of  Examiner) 
Barnabas  C.  Hobbs,  one  of  Indiana's  most  noted  edu- 
cators, gave  this  account  of  the  examination  given  him 


190         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

when  lie  was  a  mere  boy :  He  says :  ' '  Being  one  year  older 
than  my  native  state  I  have  seen  her  growth  from  a  wilder- 
ness peopled  with  wild  savages  to  one  of  the  most  successful 
in  education.  I  have  seen  the  old-fashioned  teacher  behind 
his  desk  in  true  'Ichabod'  style  just  as  he  came  across  the 
sea.  I  saw  the  neighborhood  excitement  when  grammar, 
geography  and  history  were  added  to  the  course  of  study. 
Pleasing  memories  come  before  me  when  I  think  of  the 
pioneer  school-houses  which  had  two  long  pins  over  the 
teacher's  desk  on  which  the  whips  were  laid,  the  old-time 
seats,  the  broken  windows,  and  the  large  fireplaces  were 
always  before  me.  I  shall  never  forget  my  first  experience 
under  the  law  of  1837.  I  went  to  be  examined.  The  old 
question  which  the  examiner  asked  me  was :  '  What  is  25c  x 
25c  ? '  How  could  I  tell  what  the  answer  was,  for  there  was 
no  such  problem  in  Pike 's  old  arithmetic.  *  I  worked  for  a 
long  time  and  could  not  get  the  answer.  Then  the  ex- 
aminer tried  to  solve  it  and  thought  the  result  was  6y±e.  I 
thought  6y±e  was  right,  yet  that  appeared  very  small  to 
both  of  us.  We  discussed  its  merits  for  some  time  wThen  he 
thought  he  was  satisfied  that  I  was  qualified  to  hold  a  cer- 
tificate." 

One  of  the  favorite  questions  asked  by  the  examiners  in 
Crawford  County  was,  "Why  does  smoke  go  up?"  If  a 
teacher  could  explain  that  he  was  certain  to  get  a  cer- 
tificate. 

M.  E.  Stewart,  of  Tower,  told  a  very  interesting  story 
about  Professor  John  M.  Johnson  when  he  was  county 
examiner  in  Crawford  County.  Johnson  had  graduated 
from  Indiana  University  in  1851  and  was  a  very  good 
school  man.     He  wished  to  add  orthography  to  the  course 


EDUCATION  191 

of  study  which  consisted  of  reading,  writing  and  arith- 
metic. When  Hiram  Jones  came  to  take  the  examination, 
Johnson  asked  him  if  he  knew  what  orthography  was. 
Hiram  said:  "Oh,  John  do  not  put  that  into  the  course. 
I  do  not  know  anything  about  that."  So  Johnson  passed 
him  with  the  grades  on  the  other  subjects. 

Hobbs  told  about  a  retired  liquor  dealer  who  was  a 
teacher.  He  weighed  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
and  was  very  cross.  He  began  school  at  seven  o'clock. 
The  recesses  were  ten  minuts  long  with  one  hour  at  noon. 
We  were  in  school  about  ten  hours  each  day.  We  sat  on 
backless  seats  all  this  time.  How  tired  we  grew  and  how 
our  feet  dangled  from  the  seats !  May  no  other  generation 
ever  be  punished  so !  But  this  old  man  often  grew  sleepy 
and  then  when  he  fell  asleep  how  we  poor  boys  enjoyed 
crawling  down  off  that  seat  and  letting  our  legs  and  feet 
rest.  He  chewed  tobacco  and  spat  on  the  floor  about  his 
seat,  of  which  probably  a  square  yard  was  wet.  He  made  a 
rule  that  whoever  came  first  should  be  at  the  head  of  the 
class  in  spelling.  One  morning  I  came  about  five  o'clock 
and  to  my  surprise  I  found  a  tall  boy  there  who  really  had 
never  taken  much  interest  in  school.  What  could  it  mean? 
Soon  a  large  number  of  boys  came  and  held  a  kind  of  a 
meeting  in  the  woods  near  the  house.  When  the  teacher 
came  it  was  soon  noised  around  that  the  boys  were  going 
to  give  him  a  jug  of  brandy  for  a  Christmas  present. 

Not  much  effort  was  made  to  teach  the  girls  arithmetic. 
Many  believed  that  the  girls  could  not  study  that  branch 
of  learning.     They  were  not  able  to  reason  out  the  sums. 

Another  law  was  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  in 
1847  in  which  a  state- wide  referendum  was  taken  whether 


192  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  people  of  the  state  should  pay  tax  themselves  to  sup- 
port a  common  school.  The  election  was  held  in  Indiana 
in  1848  when  the  state  voted  for  free  schools  by  a  majority 
of  16,636.  The  bill  was  under  discussion  in  the  House 
during  most  of  the  term  in  1846-1847.  It  was  finally 
passed  a  few  days  before  the  term  closed.  Since  the  Sen- 
ate did  not  have  sufficient  time  to  study  the  question  it 
referred  the  whole  problem  to  the  people  to  decide.  The 
campaign  for  free  schools  began  immediately  and  was  very 
exciting.  It  was  not  an  easy  one.  The  referendum  was 
not  on  the  abstract  question  as  many  men  seemed  to  think. 
There  was  an  overwhelming  sentiment  in  the  state  for 
schools,  but  these  schools  were  to  be  free,  poor  and  rich 
were  to  mix,  the  infidel  and  the  Christian  were  to  be  jum- 
bled together  into  one  mass  devoted  to  reading,  writing  and 
arithmetic,  and  the  worst  of  all,  the  people  who  had  no 
children  were  to  be  taxed  to  support  such  a  school  system. 
Again,  there  were  thousands  who  were  not  capable  of  vot- 
ing on  such  a  question.  The  writer's  father  was  at  the 
election  in  Fredonia  when  he  was  a  boy  of  seventeen.  One 
German  went  up  to  vote.  The  officers  asked  him  if  he 
wanted  to  vote  for  the  school  law.  He  looked  surprised 
and  said:  "Who  is  Mr.  Schoollaw?  If  he  bes  a  Democrat, 
pop  me  down  one ;  if  he  bes  a  No  Nothing  I  see  him  mit  Hell 
first."  Crawford  County  voted  against  the  law.  The 
vote  was:   Against,  733;  for  the  free  school,  381. 

Most  of  the  schools  were  organized  in  Crawford  County 
after  the  passage  of  the  law  in  1833.  What  schools  ex- 
isted in  Crawford  County  before  that  time  no  one  can  now 
tell,  for  the  old  records  have  been  destroyed.  Joseph  Rain- 
forth,  trustee  of  Ohio  township  in- 1920,  has  one  old  book 


EDUCATION  193 

written  by  the  township  clerk  from  which  the  writer  has 
obtained  valuable  information.  The  citizens  of  township 
four  south,  range  one  east,  met  at  the  court  house  in  Fre- 
donia  on  the  last  Saturday  in  August,  1836,  and  elected 
George  Jones,  Thomas  Fox  and  Thomas  Cummings  trus- 
tees for  the  township.  This  board  of  trustees  chose 
Thomas  Fox  secretary  and  treasurer. 

The  board  of  trustees  met  at  the  home  of  John  Morgan 
on  December  24,  1836,  and  divided  up  the  sixteenth  sec- 
tion into  six  plots  of  eighty  acres  each  and  one  lot  of  160 
acres.  The  price  set  on  each  lot  was:  Lot  1,  $2.50  per 
acre;  lot  2,  $2.50  per  acre;  lot  3,  $1.83  per  acre;  lot  4, 
$2.66  2/3  per  acre;  lot  5,  $3.16  2/3  per  acre;  lot  6,  $1.25 
per  acre;  lot  7,  $1.25  per  acre.  The  sum  received  for  the 
sixteenth  section  of  land  was  about  $131,306. 

The  question  that  came  up  now  was  what  shall  be  done 
with  the  money.  So  an  election  was  held  June  10,  1837, 
in  Fredonia  and  the  citizens  voted  forty  to  three  to  keep 
the  money  in  the  hands  of  the  county  school  commissioner, 
Mr.  S.  Leatherap.  Under  the  law  the  commissioner  was 
authorized  to  loan  out  the  money  and  use  the  interest  on 
the  same. 

The  next  official  meeting  of  the  trustees  occurred 
on  August  27,  1837,  at  the  home  of  Thomas  Cummings, 
at  which  meeting  the  trustees  divided  the  township  into 
four  districts  and  ordered  the  voters  of  each  district  to 
meet  October  7,  1837,  and  elect  three  district  trustees.  The 
result  of  this  election  was  as  follows :  District  1 :  Allen 
D.  Thorn,  John  Carnes,  Thomas  Roberts;  District  2, 
Abram  Sheckels,  Joseph  Davis,  Thomas  Cummings;  Dis- 


194         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

trict  3,  Sam  Clark,  Richard  Whiteman,  Henry  Fullen- 
wider;  District  4,  John  Myers,  William  Goad. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  people  was  held  on  November 
16,  1837,  at  which  Charles  Springer  donated  a  tract  of 
land  on  which  a  school-honse  could  be  built.  The  citizens 
voted  by  a  majority  of  nine  to  accept  the  generous  offer. 
This  house  was  for  district  No.  4. 

The  people  in  district  No.  2  met  on  August  2,  1838,  and 
ordered  the  funds  divided  and  applied  to  the  completion 
of  the  school-house  then  being  built  in  that  district. 
Nothing  more  was  done  till  February  11,  1840,  when  the 
township  trustees  met  at  the  home  of  Thomas  Cummings 
and  laid  out  district  No.  5,  and  appointed  Peter  Carberry, 
William  Goad  and  John  Parr  trustees  to  the  new  district, 
most  of  which  was  carved  out  of  district  No.  4.  The  trus- 
tees of  district  No.  4  met  July  14,  1841,  and  located  the  site 
for  a  house  on  the  northwest  of  the  east  half  of  the  south- 
east fourth  of  section  twenty-nine.  They  demanded  that 
the  township  trustees  should  pay  to  their  district  treasurer 
the  funds  then  due  the  district.  On  the  first  Saturday  in 
October,  1841,  a  new  set  of  trustees  were  elected  for  district 
No.  2,  of  whom  were  Riley  Main,  Nicholas  Peckinpaugh 
and  Bade  Conner. 

The  first  set  of  trustees  for  district  No.  1  went  out  of 
office  in  1841  and  a  new  set  composed  of  these  men  was 
chosen;  Esau  McFall,  Elias  O'Bannon  and  Thomas  Rob- 
erts. 

The  term  of  office  for  the  trustees  in  districts  expired  in 
1842  and  on  October  1  Richard  Riddle,  Cornelius  Ridge 
and  James  Gaither  were  selected  to  fill  the  vacancies. 

From  1836  to   1842  not  much  was  done  but  to  elect 


EDUCATION  195 

trustees  and  draw  the  portion  of  the  interest  which  fell  due 
to  the  districts.  At  that  time  the  settlers  could  demand 
their  part  of  the  fund  and  hire  a  private  teacher  for  their 
pupils. 

The  first   census  of  the  school  districts  was  taken   in 
1843.    The  voters  and  pupils  are  as  shown : 


No.  of  District 

Voters 

Pupils 

1 

28 

57 

2 

13 

34 

3 

20 

56 

4 

19 

61 

5 

15 

40 

Total  95  248 

The  pupils  were  listed  between  six  and  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  Hence,  one  can  see  that  these  districts  con- 
tained a  large  number  of  pupils.  One  of  the  first  teachers 
to  enter  this  township  was  Ansel  Dexter,  who  taught  sev- 
eral schools  in  the  county  and  was  county  examiner  in  1853. 
He  was  employed  to  teach  one  winter  in  district  No.  2. 
On  the  first  day  a  large  number  of  boys  and  girls  came. 
Dexter  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  When  the  bell  rang  and 
the  pupils  came  into  the  house  he  walked  to  the  blackboard 
and  drew  a  circle  on  the  board,  then  walked  back  to  the 
door.  Everyone  was  watching  to  see  what  he  was  going 
to  do.  He  drew  a  revolver  out  of  his  pocket  and  fired  a 
shot  which  hit  in  the  circle.  Then  he  pulled  out  a  long 
dirk  and  threw  it  and  stuck  it  also  into  the  circle.  Then 
he  told  the  pupils  that  he  was  going  to  teach  that  school 


196  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

and  woe  betide  the  boy  who  tried  to  disturb  the  school. 
There  was  no  trouble  that  winter. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  township  trustees  in  1843  the  boun- 
daries of  the  districts  were  clearly  denned  that  there  might 
be  no  dispute  about  the  pupils  going  to  the  wrong  district. 
No  one  was  allowed  to  attend  school  in  another  district 
unless  the  trustees  gave  the  party  the  permission. 
The  people  in  the  county  moved  about  so  much  that  one 
could  hardly  tell  where  their  home  was.  This  table  will 
give  one  some  idea  of  the  conditions: 


No. 


of  District 

Voters 

Pupils 

1 

28 

57 

2 

13 

34 

3 

20 

56 

4 

15 

60 

5 

15 

40 

Total  91  248 

The  same  districts  in  1845  in  January  had: 


No.  of  District 

Voters 

Pupils 

1 

21 

51 

2 

21 

45 

3 

22 

62 

4 

25 

63 

5 

22 

50 

Total  111  271 


EDUCATION 

In  August 

of  the 

same  year: 

No.  of  District 

Voters 

Pupils 

1 

24 

67 

2 

24 

47 

3 

16 

55 

4 

40 

69 

5 

21 

48 

197 


Total  126  286 

The  trustees  of  the  township  met  at  Alton  June  3,  1845, 
and  divided  up  the  township  and  fixed  the  boundaries  of 
the  districts.  No.  1,  beginning  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
section  sixteen  and  running  north  one  and  one-half  miles, 
thence  east  80  rods,  thence  north  to  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween three  and  four,  thence  east  with  said  line  to  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  township,  thence  south  with  the 
range  line  dividing  the  ranges  two  and  one  east  of  the 
river.  Thence  following  the  river  to  the  north  line  of  sec- 
tion 24,  thence  west  to  the  beginning. 

The  first  district  was  commonly  known  as  the  Fredonia 
district;  the  second  was  called  the  Main  district  because 
Riley  Main  and  Walker  Main  were  leading  citizens  in  that 
district. 

District  No.  3  was  called  the  Whiteman  district  for  the 
same  reason.  District  No.  4  was  called  the  Mill  Creek 
district.  District  No.  4  was  also  known  as  the  Fullenwider 
district. 

The  treasurer's  report  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  October, 
1845,  shows  that  there  were  due  the  township  to  be  divided 


198 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


$89.10  among  the  districts  as  follows:  District  1,  $20.87; 
district  2,  $14.64;  district  3,  $17.13;  district  4,  $21.49;  dis- 
trict 5,  $14.95. 

The  tallies  of  the  voters  and  pupils  were: 


No. 

Males 

Females 

Totals 

1 

. . 

.  . 

62 

2 

27 

22 

49 

3 

37 

30 

67 

4 

35 

28 

63 

5 

36 

42 

78 

le  tallies  for 

January  30, 

1850 

were: 

No.          Voters       Females 

Males 

Total 

1                 32 

32 

36 

68 

2                 41 

41 

31 

72 

3 

27 

26 

53 

4 

60 

35 

95 

5 

24 

30 

54 

This  old  district  system  was  well  illustrated  by  the  map 
submitted  here.  One  will  see  that  the  tract  of  land  lying 
in  the  southeast  corner  on  which  is  written  "no  schools" 
was  not  in  township  No.  4  and  the  people  in  the  bend  of 
the  river  could  not  send  their  children  to  school  in  district 
No.  2.  The  old  settlers  told  of  a  great  fight  between  one 
teacher  and  the  boys  from  that  piece  of  land.  They  wanted 
to  come  to  school  and  the  trustees  did  not  want  them  and 
had  ordered  the  teacher  to  run  them  off.  So  the  fight  was 
on.     The  boys  went  home  and  their  father  came  and  the 


EDUCATION  199 

teacher  armed  with  the  poking  stick  met  them  at  the  door 
and  the  big  boys  intervened  and  stayed  the  battle.  When 
the  father  cooled  down  some,  and  the  teacher  told  him  that 
they  did  not  want  them  there,  for  they  did  not  belong 
to  that  district,  he  left.  The  registration  of  the  voters 
February  3,  1851,  was: 

Districts         Voters  Boys  Girls  Total 


No.  1 

21 

30 

38 

68 

No.  2 

21 

37 

30 

67 

No.  3 

26 

30 

40 

70 

No.  4 

40 

56 

26 

82 

No.  5 

24 

25 

29 

52 

Totals  126  177  180 

The  good  people  of  Ohio  township  were  much  interested 
in  schools,  but  the  difficulties  were  so  great  that  many 
schools  were  not  being  taught  till  after  the  new  Constitu- 
tion went  into  effect.  As  early  as  1832  a  law  was  enacted 
organizing  a  Fredonia  School  Society.  The  men  who  were 
in  this  society  were  Allen  D.  Thorn,  Ebenezer  Morgan, 
James  Hicks,  Thomas  Cummings  and  Jacob  Rice.  The 
General  Assembly  by  an  act  dated  February  2,  1832, 
granted  the  school  society  a  charter  which  contained  sev- 
eral pages  in  which  the  duties,  purposes  and  management 
of  the  society  were  delineated.  The  writer  has  not  been 
able  to  find  much  about  the  work  or  success  of  the  society. 

Probably  the  first  school-house  in  Ohio  township  was 
built  in  1839.  John  Carnes  sold  a  lot  to  the  township 
trustees  on  October  26  of  that  year.     An  old  log  school- 


200  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

house  was  built  on  this  lot.  Percy  Allen  of  Fredonia  now 
has  th  eold  recitation  bench  on  his  store  porch.  It 
shows  marks  and  cuts  of  all  shapes  and  sizes  which  show 
the  consequences  of  idleness.  The  present  school  site  was 
selected  in  1860  by  the  trustees  who  bought  the  lots  92  and 
93  from  Robert  Thorn.  The  deed  was  recorded  July  6, 
1859.  The  building  which  stands  there  now  is  the  second 
one  which  has  been  built  on  that  site. 

The  Jerico  school-house  was  built  about  1845.  Abra- 
ham Wiseman  sold  part  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  5,  township  four  south,  range 
one  east,  on  September  16,  1844.  The  trustees  bought  the 
plot  of  ground  on  which  to  locate  a  school. 

The  first  school-house  was  built  at  Alton.  That  same 
year  the  township  trustees  bought  a  lot  from  James  Gaither 
for  $40.  The  first  house  was  an  old  log  structure  and  stood 
near  where  the  old  one  now  stands.  Temple  Dunn  said 
that  he  remembered  seeing  the  old  cabin  which  reminded 
him  of  an  old  cooper  house. 

Thus  far  the  data  given  has  dealt  with  the  schools  of 
Ohio  township.  Other  townships,  no  doubt,  had  interest- 
ing data,  but  unfortunately  the  records  have  been  de- 
stroyed. 

One  can  find  in  the  recorder 's  office  at  English,  Indiana, 
many  interesting  facts,  among  which  these  are  given: 
Catherine  Houghton  deeded  to  the  township  trustees  on 
August  4,  1847,  part  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  thirty-five,  township  three  south, 
range  one  east  for  school  purposes.  The  first  house  was 
built  out  of  logs  at  this  site  where  the  Jasper  road  crossed 
the  Fredonia  and  Mount  Sterling  roads.    Many  years  later, 


EDUCATION  201 

when  the  Hartford  road  was  opened,  William  Mansfield 
gave  a  plot  of  land  in  section  26  to  the  township  trus- 
tee. This  deed  was  made  in  October,  1857.  Since  that 
date  the  school  was  named  Mansfield  and  listed  as  No.  2. 
The  old  plot  of  ground  was  sold  to  Anthony  Small  for 
$8.00.  The  graveyard  of  the  Pegg  family  is  near  the  site 
of  the  old  Houghton  school-house. 

The  next  school  district  opened  was  at  Centerville, 
which  was  known  as  Pulltight  for  a  long  time.  Spencer 
deeded  the  land  to  the  trustee  on  April  4,  1849.  The  house 
was  built  soon  after.  The  site  was  re-located  on  November 
13,  1861,  and  a  new  house  built  in  section  sixteen  where  it 
now  is. 

These  two  houses  are  the  only  ones  about  which  any 
data  can  be  secured  prior  to  1850. 

Since  1850  many  schools  grew  up.  New  laws  were  en- 
acted whereby  the  people  could  be  taxed  to  build  houses 
and  the  three  trustees  were  discarded  and  one  was  elected 
and  had  general  supervision  over  the  school. 

Mr.  Bunnell  gave  a  lot  to  the  trustees  of  Jennings  town- 
ship on  March  17,  1851.  It  was  located  at  the  crossing  of 
the  Paoli  and  Fredonia  and  Big  Springs  roads,  about  six 
miles  north  of  Leavenworth. 

Shaffer's  school  was  located  July  23,  1853,  and  named 
after  the  Shaffers,  who  were  prominent  people  in  that  part 
of  Jennings  township. 

Addison  Williams,  who  laid  out  the  town  of  Magnolia, 
sold  to  the  township  trustee  for  $10  a  lot  No.  39  in  Mag- 
nolia in  1856.  A  large  frame  house  was  built  on  this  lot 
and  was  in  use  until  the  new  house  was  built  in  1895  and 
1896. 


202  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  Wyandotte  school  was  built  about  1856.  Isaac 
Sibert  sold  the  lot  to  the  trustee  on  December  7,  1855. 
Later  the  site  was  moved  and  a  house  was  built  where  the 
house  now  stands. 

Robert  Hollowell  deeded  to  the  trustee  a  site  for  a 
house  on  October  3,  1857.  Later,  the  school  was  named 
Borden,  after  Levi  Borden,  who  was  a  pioneer  settler  in 
that  locality. 

Meanwhile,  the  people  of  Leavenworth  had  made  much 
progress  in  education.  A  law  was  enacted  on  December 
24,  1830,  providing  for  a  seminary  at  Leavenworth,  of 
which  Elam  Willey,  Andrew  Beers,  James  Davidson  and 
Seth  Leavenworth  were  trustees.  A  charter  was  granted 
them  in  that  year  by  the  Legislature.  This  charter  was 
a  very  elaborate  document  and  may  be  of  interest  to  the 
reader.     (See  Laws  of  1830-1831,  page  58.) 

This  old  law  was  directed  toward  the  right  goal,  but 
the  poor  people  never  met  with  success.  No  reference  is 
given  about  the  success  of  the  school. 

The  General  Assembly  enacted  a  new  law  providing  for 
a  county  seminary  on  February  7,  1835.  This  law  pro- 
vided that  the  voters  of  the  county  should  elect  one  trustee 
for  each  township  at  the  April  election.  The  county  clerk 
was  authorized  to  make  out  the  certificate  of  election. 
These  trustees  were  empowered  to  meet  in  the  town  of 
Leavenworth  on  the  first  Monday  in  May  in  1835  and  file 
a  bond  of  $400.  They  were  empowered  at  the  first  meet- 
ing to  select  a  permanent  site  for  the  location  of  the 
county  seminary.  The  charter  granted  to  the  seminary 
contained  enough  provisions  to  govern  a  state  institution. 

As   soon   as   this   charter   was   granted   the   people   of 


EDUCATION  203 

Leavenworth  began  working  to  secure  the  school.  At  the 
first  meeting  of  the  trustees  on  the  first  Monday  in  May, 
Leavenworth  was  selected  as  the  site  of  the  new  seminary. 
The  funds  had  now  accumulated  till  the  money  on  hands 
was  about  $300.  A  choice  lot  of  land  was  deeded  to  the 
trustees  by  Julius  Woodford  in  1835.  A  large  brick  house 
was  built.  It  was  two  stories  high  and  cost  $1,042.  It 
was  forty  feet  long  and  twenty-five  feet  wide.  Sam  Clark 
was  agent  for  the  seminary  in  1848.  He  charged  the  stu- 
dents who  attended  the  school  tuition  at  the  rate  of  $2  per 
month  for  the  lower  room  and  $1.50  for  the  upper  rooms. 
This  old  seminary  building  was  the  only  school  Leaven- 
worth had  till  about  1873  when  the  town  built  a  fine 
brick  house  of  four  rooms.  Elias  Leavenworth  sold  the 
trustee  the  spot  of  ground  on  which  to  build  the  house. 
The  school-house  was  one  of  the  best  in  southern  Indiana 
then.  The  old  seminary  building  was  sold  to  the  citizens 
of  Leavenworth.  William  Conrad  owns  the  house  now.  It 
is  located  on  Court  Street,  a  few  yards  west  of  the  button 
factory. 

In  all,  there  were  about  five  schools  in  Jennings  in 
1854. 

One  finds  these  schools  in  Whisky  Run  township  be- 
fore 1860 :  Adam  Conrad  sold  part  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  twenty  in 
township  two  south,  range  two  east.  A  school-house  was 
built  here  about  1843.  The  school-house  was  built,  prob- 
ably the  first  in  Whisky  Run  township.  It  is  known  as 
Oak  Grove  school. 

Another  old  school  is  the  Wyman  school.  The  site  was 
first  located  on  Andrew  Engyeman's  farm  in  section  16  on 


204  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

November  20,  1849.  Later,  Lewis  Wyman  deeded  a  lot  to 
the  trustees  on  February  23,  1856,  located  in  section  21. 

The  Mount  Lebanon  school  was  located  in  1850.  John 
Bell  deeded  the  site  to  the  trustee  on  March  10,  1850. 
Later  this  school  was  re-located  in  a  new  site  a  short  dis- 
tance west  of  the  old  site. 

Liberty  school  was  laid  out  in  1854.  Henry  Totten 
gave  the  trustee  the  site  for  this  building.  It  was  located 
on  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion three  south  range  two  east.  The  school-house  stands 
to-day  about  where  the  first  one  was  built. 

By  order  of  the  trustees  the  Rawlings  school  district 
was  laid  out  in  1854.  Stephen  Rawlings  gave  the  plot  of 
ground  to  the  trustees  on  December  29,  1854.  This  school- 
house  was  built  in  section  27,  at  which  place  the  house 
still  stands  to-day. 

By  1854  Whisky  Run  township  had  provided  for  five 
new  school-houses,  but  that  does  not  mean  that  they  were 
built  at  once.  State  Superintendent  Larrabee's  report  in 
3853  shows  that  there  were  built  at  Whisky  Run  just  two 
suitable  houses  for  school  purposes. 

Liberty  township  schools  were  not  much  behind  the 
others.  The  trustee  located  the  first  district  on  February 
25,  1850.  On  that  date  John  A.  Sloan,  who  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  Liberty  township,  sold  a  plot  of  ground  on 
the  southeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
3,  township  2  south,  range  1  east  for  school  purposes. 

By  1854  a  district  was  located  in  section  6  on  John 
Hammond's  farm.  Another  was  located  on  William  May's 
farm  in  section  1.  This  district  was  the  Big  Springs  dis- 
trict. 


EDUCATION  205 

Sterling-  township  did  not  take  much  interest  in 
schools  in  these  early  days.  John  McMichael  sold  a  tract 
of  land  to  the  trustees  on  August  12,  1848,  on  which  a 
school  was  located.  Yet  the  county  examiner  in  his  report 
to  State  Superintendent  Larrabee  in  1853  made  no  mention 
of  any  schools.  However,  he  says  Sterling  township  had 
an  enrollment  of  517  pupils  between  six  and  21  years  old. 

One  has  definite  knowledge  that  a  house  was  built  in 
1854.  The  district  was  located  and  the  site  of  the  school 
chosen  by  Simon  Monk. 

The  second  site  was  located  on  James  Temple's  farm 
in  March,  1854.  The  Temple  school  stands  not  far  from 
the  old  one. 

Patoka  township  did  not  gain  in  population  rapidly. 
There  was  no  market  except  at  Leavenworth.  In  those 
days  one  had  to  come  to  Leavenworth  one  day  and  return 
home  the  next. 

The  first  school  district  was  laid  out  January  3,  1854, 
David  Rice  sold  a  plot  of  ground  located  on  the  southwest 
quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  4,  township  2 
south,  range  2  west  to  the  trustee  for  school  purposes.  To- 
day the  old  Jerico  school  is  located  there,  or  very  near,  to 
the  old  site. 

That  same  year  William  Patton  deeded  part  of  the  sev- 
enth section  to  the  trustee  for  school  purposes. 

Alstott's  school  stands  here  now.  These  two  are  the 
oldest  districts  in  Patoka  township. 

Union  township  organized  one  school  district  and  lo- 
cated the  site  for  a  building  in  section  one,  township  three 
south,  range  one  west.     This  was  the  Grantsburg  school. 


206  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Robert  Denbo  sold  the  site  for  the  house  to  the  trustee  on 
October  22,  1853. 

In  1854  Malachi  Ott  sold  the  trustee  a  site  for  a  house 
in  section  29,  township  three  south,  range  one  west.  Later 
the  house  was  relocated  near  where  Mifflin  now  stands. 

From  the  best  information  which  the  writer  can  secure 
these  schools  were  the  first  located  in  each  township. 
"When  the  new  Constitution  was  adopted  and  the  trustees 
were  empowered  by  law  to  levy  taxes  and  build  school- 
houses  then  many  new  districts  were  laid  out  and  by  1865 
each  township  had  enough  schools  to  provide  suitable  room 
for  all  of  the  pupils.  In  the  state  superintendent's  report 
for  1853  one  finds  this  table : 

Jennings  township  had  649  pupils  and  four  schools; 
Whisky  Run,  433  pupils  and  only  two  suitable  schools; 
Liberty  with  243,  Sterling,  517;  Patoka,  404  pupils,  and 
the  trustees  are  building  schools;  Union,  260;  Ohio,  346 
pupils,  with  six  schools  in  poor  condition,  with  women's 
salary  $12  per  month  and  men's  salary  $16.33;  Boone, 
173   pupils  and  no  schools. 

This  report  shows  that  there  were  about  ten  schools  in 
Crawford  County  in  1853.  Those  in  Ohio  township  were 
in  a  poor  condition. 

This  list  of  examiners  was  secured  after  much  toil  and 
trouble.  There  were,  no  doubt,  several  others  who  were 
entitled  to  have  their  names  written  in  the  roll  of  honor  if 
they  could  be  found :  1853,  Ansell  Dexter  and  Nathan 
Harris;  1860,  William  Ilighfield;  1862,  John  J.  McCalis- 
ter;  1863,  Joel  Vandeveer;  1865,  John  Magill  Johnson; 
3  871,  John  M.  Smith  and  Alec  Sipes. 


EDUCATION  207 

One  may  be  interested  in  knowing  that  Alec  Sipes  died 
in  May,  1920,  at  his  home  in  Kansas. 

The  following  figures  will  show  how  rapidly  the  schools 
were  organized  under  the  new  law : 

Data  for  1855 :  Boone  township — Attendance,  boys 
104,  girls,  59 ;  schools,  four,  schools  taught,  three,  new 
houses,  one;  salary,  men,  $20,  women,  $7  1/3;  teachers 
men,  1,  women,  2. 

Jennings  township — Attendance,  boys,  310,  girls,  358 
schools,  7 ;  schools  taught,  none ;  new  houses,  none. 

Liberty  township — Attendance,  boys,  132,  girls,  104 
schools,  5 ;  schools  taught,  5 ;  new  houses,  4 ;  salary,  men 
$16.66,  women,  $10 ;  teachers,  men,  4,  women,  1. 

Ohio  township — Attendance,  boys,  218,  girls,  186 
schools,  five,  schools  taught,  five,  new  houses,  five;  salary 
men,  $20;  women,  none,  men,  five,  teaching. 

Patoka  township — Attendance,  boys,  226,  girls,  226 
schools,  nine,  schools  taught,  none,  and  no  new  houses. 

Sterling  township — Attendance,  boys,  258,  girls,  187 
schools,  nine;  schools  taught,  six;  new  houses,  six;  salary 
men,  $16.66;  teachers,  men,  6. 

Union  township — Attendance,  boys,  161,  girls,  144 
schools,  five;  schools  taught,  3;  new  houses,  three;  salary 
$18 ;  teachers,  three  men. 

Whisky  Run  township — Attendance,  boys,  249,  girls 
197 ;  schools,  six ;  schools  taught,  none ;  new  houses,  none 
salary,  $18. 

Totals — Attendance,  boys,  1,658;  girls,  1,363;  schools 
50 ;  schools  taught,  22 ;  new  houses,  19 ;  teachers,  men,  19 
women,  3. 


208  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  next  data  were  for  1856  and  will  give  one  a  view  of 
the  new  schools  taught : 

Boone  township — Enrollment,  174;  number  of  schools, 
four ;  men  teachers,  one,  lady  teachers,  one ;  schools  taught, 
two;  new  houses,  one;  value  of  the  houses,  $64. 

Jennings  township — Enrollment,  428;  number  of 
schools,  six;  men  teachers,  eight,  lady  teachers,  none; 
schools  taught,  eight;  new  houses,  two;  value  of  houses, 
$325. 

Liberty  township — Enrollment,  259 ;  number  of  schools, 
five ;  men  teachers,  five ;  schools  taught,  five. 

Ohio  township — Enrollment,  401 ;  number  of  schools, 
five ;  men  teachers,  five ;  lady  teachers,  two ;  schools  taught, 
six. 

Patoka  township — Enrollment,  322 ;  number  of  schools, 
nine ;  men  teachers,  nine ;  schools  taught,  nine ;  new  houses, 
three ;  value  of  houses,  $370. 

Sterling  township — Enrollment,  444 ;  number  of  schools, 
9 ;  men  teachers,  eight ;  schools  taught,  8. 

Union  township — Enrollment,  340;  number  of  schools, 
five ;  men  teachers,  five ;  schools  taught,  five. 

Whisky  Run  township — Enrollment,  437 ;  number  of 
schools,  7 ;  men  teachers,  none ;  new  houses,  three ;  value 
of  houses,  $350. 

Leavenworth  township — Enrollment,  189. 

In  this  report  one  will  see  the  number  of  houses  in 
Jennings  township  was  six,  while  eight  schools  were 
actually  taught.     Two  must  have  been  in  private  homes. 

The  list  of  teachers  for  Ohio  township  in  1856  was : 

District  one — Bartlett  Baker,  salary,  $50;  District  2, 
Bartlett  Baker,  salary,  $35 ;  District  3,  Jerusha  Baker,  sal- 


EDUCATION  209 

ary,  $20;  District  4,  Jane  VanWinkle,  salary,  $5;  District 
5,  D.  M.  Barmore,  salary,  $45. 

The  list  of  teachers  for  1854  was :  District  1,  Walker 
Main,  salary,  $19;  District  2,  -  -  Martin,  $18;  District 
3,  Ansel  Dexter,  salary,  $28.50 ;  District  4,  W.  B.  Johnson, 
salary,  $18.75;  District  5,  George  Riddle,  salary,  $32.30; 
District  6,  S.  VanWinkle,  salary,  $19. 

Teachers  for  1853 — District  1,  George  W.  Riddle,  sal- 
ary, $22.39 ;  District  2,  James  Evans,  salary,  $25 ;  District 
3,  Jerusha  Ellis,  salary,  $50. 

Teachers  for  1855 :  Nicholas  Coleman,  salary,  $11.75 ; 
John  McAllister,  salary,  $60;  J.  W.  Tucker,  salary,  $11.75; 
Jerusha  Ellis,  salary,  $20 ;  paid  D.  S.  Miller  for  boarding 
Miss  Ellis,  $15 ;  Bartlett  Baker,  salary,  $50. 

Teachers  for  1857— District  5,  D.  M.  Barmore,  $45; 
District  4,  John  McAllister. 

The  school  board  paid  Sylvester  Scott  $75  for  building 
schoolhouse  No.  4 ;  the  contract  was  allowed  on  May  2,  1857, 
to  Mr.  Scott  for  $240. 

The  last  sum  included  the  entire  cost  of  the  new  school- 
house. 

Teachers                                              District  Salary 

Joseph    Robinson    1  $30.00 

Bartlett   Baker    2  50.00 

W.  H.  Peckinpaugh  3  72.00 

John  McAllister    4  51.92 

Dunbar   Patrick    5  40.00 

Uriah    Breeden    1  .... 

H.   Martin    1  10.00 


210 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


The  above  list  of  teachers  was  hired  for  the  year  1858 
and  1859.  When  one  sees  that  three  teachers  were  hired 
by  the  Fredonia  board  in  one  year,  one  must  think  that 
the  teachers  were  run  out  by  the  pupils. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  number  and  kind 
of  houses  in  Crawford  County: 

Townships  Frame 

Boone     1 

Patoka    

Ohio    5 

Whisky  Run   4 

Sterling    2 

Johnson    

Jennings    

Union    2 

Liberty     5 


Log 

Brick 

Total 

3 

4 

9 

9 

. . 

5 

5 

9 

10 

12 

6 

6 

10 

1 

11 

6 

8 
5 

Totals   19 


49 


1 


69 


The  brick  house  referred  to  in  the  table  was  the  sem- 
inary building  at  Leavenworth  which  was  used  for  a  school 
by  the  town  till  the  present  house  was  constructed.  In 
1876  there  were  193  log  schoolhouses  in  the  state,  of  which 
number  Crawford  County  had  twelve.  There  were  six  in 
the  county  in  1878.  By  1884  only  two  remained  in  use. 
They  were  not  used  in  1885  for  school  purposes.  The  fol- 
lowing table  is  interesting: 


Salary 

Salary 

Schools 

Townships 

Men 

Women 

Attendance    Taught 

Jennings   .  .  . 

588 

] 

EDUCATION 

i 

Boone     

190 

Liberty    

. . 

233 

Ohio   

Patoka   

18.00 

16.00 

367 
432 

5 

Sterling 

14.00 

. . 

474 

2 

Union    

12.88 

289 

1 

Whisky  Run  . 

415 

211 


One  will  see  in  this  table  that  many  schools  were  not 
taught  in  1854.  That  year  Sterling  and  Liberty  townships 
built  eight  new  houses.  The  schools  of  Crawford  County 
were  in  a  deplorable  condition  in  1854.  One  can  hardly 
conceive  of  such  an  ignorant  condition  of  the  people.  The 
editor  of  the  Indiana  School  Journal  visited  Crawford 
County  in  1865.  He  found  the  schools  in  a  poor  condition. 
He  visited  the  Alton  school  where  a  lady  from  New  York 
was  teaching.  She  informed  him  that  she  intended  to  re- 
turn to  New  York  when  her  school  closed.  This  editor  met 
with  many  curious  people.  In  Perry  County  at  the  county 
seat  one  man  argued  with  him  about  the  school  journal. 
This  fellow  thought  the  Journal  was  a  political  paper. 
After  looking  over  the  paper  he  found  the  name  of  a  con- 
tributor who  was  of  the  same  name  of  a  noted  Whig 
politician.  So  he  asked  the  editor  about  it,  and  he  ex- 
plained that  the  name  was  not  the  one  he  thought  it  was, 
but  was  a  teacher  of  Indiana.  He  was  not  entirely  satis- 
fied and  kept  on  looking  through  the  Journal.  Suddenly 
he  saw  the  name  "Chase"  and  ran  up  to  the  editor  and 
said:  "Now  I  have  you,  here  is  old  Chase's  name.  What 
do  you  say  now?"  The  editor  explained  that  the  man 
whose  name  the  gentleman  had  found  was  not  the  noted 


212  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio,  but  a  noted  Indiana  teacher.  He 
looked  at  the  editor  a  few  seconds  and,  throwing  down  the 
Journal  he  went  out,  saying  that  he  "smelled  a  mouse." 
The  first  report  sent  into  the  state  from  Crawford 
County  was  in  1853.  Ansel  Dexter  and  Nathan  Harris 
were  the  examiners.  The  report  read :  Harris  had  issued 
five  licenses  and  Dexter  two.  We  are  lamentably  deficient 
in  the  number  of  our  teachers  who  are  well  qualified  ~  But 
such  as  they  are  I  believe  they  do  very  well.  Schools  are 
not  so  numerous  as  they  ought  to  be  on  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  teachers  and  school  money. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  TERRIBLE  SIXTIES 


William  Gibbs  and  Isaiah  Berkshire  were  ordered  to 
build  a  bridge  over  Big  Blue  for  $1,000.  The  commis- 
sioners at  their  meeting  in  March,  1860,  gave  them  the 
contract.  It  seemed  that  the  board  had  given  William 
McKinley  of  Perry  County  the  contract  to  construct  the 
bridge  over  Big  Blue  at  Milltown.  He  appeared  before 
the  board  on  June  5,  1860,  and  demanded  that  the  board 
must  keep  its  contract  with  him.  If  they  did  that  he  would 
withdraw  the  suit  and  the  appeal  he  had  made  to  the 
circuit  court.  The  court  agreed  to  accept  the  proposition 
and  pay  the  cost  of  the  suits  in  court.  McKinley 's  contract 
read  thus :  ' '  William  McKinley  of  Perry  County  agrees 
and  contracts  with  the  board  of  county  commissioners  and 
the  commissioners  of  Harrison  County  to  build  a  bridge 
over  Big  Blue  at  Milltown,  where  the  New  Albany  and 
Jasper  road  crossed  the  river.  His  bond  was  signed  by 
Wilson  Daniels,  Ballard  Smith  and  Job  Hatfield.  He 
must  comply  strictly  to  the  contract.  The  bridge  was  to 
cost  $17.60  a  foot."  The  work  was  to  begin  July  1,  1860, 
and  be  completed  by  July  25,  1860.  Later  McKinley 
agreed  to  surrender  the  contract  made  May  15,  1860.  He 
gave  up  the  timber  which  he  had  on  hand  and  the  rocks  in 
the   quarry.     The  board  held  a  special   meeting   July   1, 

213 


214  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

1861,  and  agreed  to  pay  him  $75,  in  addition  to  what  he 
had  already  received.  So  he  left  the  contract  to  Calvin 
White,  James  Tadlock  and  David  Miller,  the  commis- 
sioners. On  June  4,  1862,  Harrison  County  was  ready 
to  build  her  part  of  the  bridge  at  Milltown.  E.  C.  Powers 
was  appointed  an  agent  to  estimate  the  cost  of  the  Mill- 
town  bridge.  A  joint  session  of  the  county  commissioners 
of  both  counties  was  held  at  Milltown  on  Friday,  June  13, 

1862,  to  consider  the  matter  of  building  a  bridge  over  Big 
Blue  River  at  Milltown.  After  seeing  the  plans  of  C. 
Powers  they  agreed  to  have  a  good  substantial  bridge  built 
under  the  supervision  of  Ben  Douglas  of  Harrison  County 
and  E.  C.  Powers  of  Crawford  County.  The  cost  of  the 
bridge  was  not  to  exceed  $2,000. 

On  March  7,  1860,  the  county  commissioners  rented  out 
the  poor  farm  to  Richard  Weathers.  He  was  to  board  all 
the  paupers  sent  him  at  $1.25.  His  bond  was  signed  by 
himself,  Squire  Weathers,  G.  H.  Shaw  and  Leonard  Shaw. 
The  bond  was  for  $700  and  the  contract  to  last  two  years. 
Weathers  was  to  pay  $85  a  year  rent.  On  December  4, 
1861,  the  above  contract  was  cancelled.  Weathers  had 
enlisted  in  the  army.  Shaw  was  dead  and  the  rent  had 
been  paid.  Thomas  Lynch  accepted  the  contract  on  the 
same  terms  given  to  Weathers. 

July  1,  1861,  the  commissioners  released  James  Haney 
Avho  was  helping  on  the  Milltown  bridge.  He  was  allowed 
$500  for  all  the  stone  on  the  ground  and  for  the  stone  on 
the  hill  above  the  town. 

The  poor  farm  was  a  problem  which  the  commissioners 
tried  to  handle  in  an  economic  manner.  July  3,  1861, 
James  Shaw  and  Alvin  Shaw  were  hired  to  clean  up  the 


THE  TERRIBLE  SIXTIES  215 

fence  rows  around  the  farm.  They  received  forty  cents 
for  everjr  hundred  rails  reset  and  $1  for  every  one  hundred 
new  rails  made  and  laid  up.  They  received  $52.75  for 
the  work  done  on  the  above  farm. 

H.  P.  Rothrock,  who  owned  the  land  where  Wyandotte 
Cave  was  found,  appeared  before  the  board  of  review 
and  asked  that  the  assessment  be  reduced  $5,000  which 
the  board  had  put  on  this  assessment  of  his  because  the 
new  cave  was  found  there.  That  seems  a  terrible  increase 
for  the  farm.  The  board  dismissed  his  petition  on  June 
5,  1860. 

The  campaign  of  1860  was  an  exciting  one  in  Crawford 
County.     These  men  were  elected : 

County  clerk,  James  M.  Lemonds;  sheriff,  W.  W.  Cum- 
mins; county  surveyor,  John  McCollister;  county  treas- 
urer, Thomas  Vance;  county  auditor,  Dunbar  Patrick. 
Patrick  was  a  Republican.  The  others  were  Democrats. 
Jim  Lemonds'  bond  was  signed  by  J.  H.  Ray,  Jeremiah 
Belcher,  J.  F.  Sanders,  W.  W.  Cummins,  W.  L.  Temple, 
Sam  Longest,  Israel  Standiford,  Caleb  Longest,  Jephtha 
Beasley,  J.  M.  Brown,  J.  F.  Gehr,  C.  Dunham,  T.  W.  High- 
fill,  Marcus  Clark,  James  Miller,  T.  B.  Cummings,  Abraham 
Wiseman,  Philmore  Wiseman,  John  Lynch,  Nathan  Collins, 
A.  M.  Scott,  John  Behen  and  Calvin  White. 

Perry  Riddle  was  appointed  assessor  January  1,  1861. 

The  presidential  race  was  the  most  exciting.  There 
were  four  tickets  in  the  field.  Lincoln  on  the  Republican, 
Douglas  on  Northern  Democratic,  Breckenridge  on  South- 
ern Democratic  and  Bell  on  the  Constitutional  and  Union 
ticket.  After  a  bitter  canvass  the  election  occurred.  The 
canvass  gave  Lane  for  Governor  on  the  Republican  ticket 


216  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

841  votes  and  Hendricks  for  Governor  on  the  Democratic 
ticket  869  votes.  Lincoln  received  778  votes,  Douglas  844, 
Breckenridge  8  and  Bell  42  votes. 

Dunbar  Patrick  was  elected  connty  auditor.  He  had  a 
crippled  spine,  causing  a  hump  on  his  back,  which  made 
him  not  fit  for  hard  work.  Men  always  voted  for  him 
when  he  ran.  They  said  that  they  could  beat  Patrick,  but 
they  could  not  beat  the  hump  on  his  back.  He  always 
made  an  efficient  officer. 

June  4,  1861,  James  Frazier,  who  was  a  civil  engineer 
from  Harrison  County,  made  a  survey  for  the  Milltown 
bridge.  Our  county  paid  $25  for  her  part  of  the  work 
and  Harrison  paid  the  rest  of  the  bill. 

The  assessors  of  Crawford  County  in  1861  were : 

Boone — W.  A.  Parr,  salary,  $10.50. 
Jennings — W.  P.  Dotson,  salary,  $67.50. 
Liberty — John  Hammond,  salary,  $45.75. 
Ohio— Perry  Riddle,  salary,  $33.00. 
Patoka— Uriah  Taylor,  salary,  $63.00. 
Sterling — James  Miller,  salary,  $31.50. 
Whisky  Run — No  report  given. 

The  cost  of  the  county  in  1861  is  an  interesting  item 
when  one  compares  it  with  the  cost  in  1924.  Below  is  an 
itemized  statement  of  the  expenses : 

Jury,  $444.75;  bailiff,  $215.50;  insane,  $216.30;  county 
officers,  $1,661.08;  specific,  $923.77;  elections,  $37.25;  poor, 
$555.32;  delinquent  tax,  $165.27;  bridges,  $305;  land  re- 
deemed, $284.91 ;  animals,  $150.75 ;  assessing,  $615 ;  roads, 
$55.50;    inquests,   $51.20;   appraisement,   $113.75;    county 


THE  TERRIBLE  SIXTIES  217 

revenue  refunded,  $429 ;  salary  of  the  common  pleas  judge, 
$104.77;  township  tax,  $442.88;  road  tax,  $73.91;  interest 
on  county  orders,  $339.41.  Total  amount,  $6,769.85.  Bal- 
ance, $695.79.  Total  of  all,  $7,465.67.  The  above  account 
appeared  June  6,  1861. 

James  Lemonds  was  appointed  to  act  in  conjunction 
with  B.  P.  Douglas  of  Harrison  County  to  investigate  the 
bridge  at  Milltown.    These  men  were  selected  June  6,  1861. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  board  on  September  1,  1862,  the 
boundary  of  Ohio  and  Union  townships  was  changed: 
Beginning  at  the  southwest  corner  of  section  18,  town  '3 
south,  range  1  east,  thence  north  to  Little  Blue,  thence 
down  the  stream  to  where  it  crosses  the  meridian  about 
15  rods  north  of  northwest  corner  of  section  30.  All  parts 
in  the  above  boundary  were  put  into  Ohio  township. 

For  many  years  the  citizens  of  Ohio  and  Boone  town- 
ships desired  a  bridge  over  Little  Blue  at  Fullenwider  's 
mill.  So  the  board  met  there  September  9,  1863,  to  inves- 
tigate the  affair  and  see  what  the  conditions  really  were. 
E.  C.  Powers  and  Perry  Riddle  were  ordered  to  draw  up 
plans  and  hire  hands  to  build  the  bridge.  December  8, 
1863,  the  treasurer  was  ordered  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
above  bridge  which  were  $450  and  legalized  the  former 
payment  of  $500.  The  work  went  on  slowly  for  several 
years.  On  September  6,  1866,  Perry  Wilks  was  authorized 
to  sell  all  the  surplus  stone  and  wood.  James  Tadlock  was 
appointed  to  supervise  the  work  on  the  bridge.  On  Sep- 
tember 4,  1867,  William  "Wilks  reported  that  the  bridge 
had  been  completed.  The  board  accepted  the  report  and 
Wilks  received  $50  for  his  services. 

Joel    Vandaver,    who    was    captain    of    the    Hartford 


218         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Guards,  a  volunteer  military  company  of  the  Indiana 
Legion,  went  into  office  in  1862.  He  gave  a  bond  for  $1,500 
for  the  use  of  the  guns  of  which  there  were  sixty  rifles. 
Later  he  resigned  the  office  on  September  5,  1864,  and  E.  P. 
Toney  was  elected.  The  board  released  him  from  the  bond 
and  requested  Mr.  Toney  to  give  bond  for  the  care  of  the 
guns. 

The  Home  Guards  of  Leavenworth  kept  their  guns  in 
John  N.  Bahr's  warehouse.  The  rent  on  the  warehouse 
was  $25  for  the  year  of  1864.  The  above  sum  was  paid 
Bahr  on  September  6,  1864. 

At  the  September  meeting  in  1865  John  Wolf,  who  was 
coming  from  Corydon  to  Leavenworth,  accidentally  let  his 
horse  run  off  of  the  Dry  Run  bridge.  The  horse  fell  to  the 
ground  and  was  killed.  He  made  claim  to  the  board  for 
$75  damages  on  the  grounds  that  the  bridge  was  not  safely 
banistered.  The  board  passed  the  matter  off  to  the  next 
meeting.  At  the  June  meeting  in  1866  the  board  paid 
Wolf  $65. 

On  June  9,  1865,  the  county  commissioners  made  a  new 
township  by  cutting  off  a  piece  of  the  southern  part  of 
Patoka.  The  township  was  named  Johnson  in  honor  of 
President  Johnson  who  was  in  office  at  that  time.  The 
voting  precinct  was  to  be  at  Henry  Rowland's  house  or 
Henry  "Rowld." 

For  many  years  the  passage  around  the  Big  Spring 
was  very  dangerous.  The  spring  came  out  of  the  ground 
near  the  foot  of  the  high  cliff.  The  water  being  deep  at 
times  when  the  river  was  high  made  traveling  over  the 
New  Albany  and  Princeton  road  dangerous.  One  man, 
William   McNaughton,    was   drowned   there.      He   was   in 


THE  TERRIBLE  SIXTIES  219 

the  water  a  long  time  before  he  was  found.  To  get  him  out 
tradition  has  it  that  a  box  was  made  for  him  and  sunk 
under  him  and  then  raised  until  he  was  floating  in  the 
box.  Then  holes  were  bored  in  the  box  by  which  the  water 
was  drained,  leaving  him  in  the  box.  Then  he  was  buried. 
AL  Edwards  was  allowed  $5  for  holding  the  inquest.  This 
happened  in  May,  1837.  So  in  March,  1867,  the  commis- 
sioners appointed  James  Deushurst  to  build  a  driveway 
around  the  head  of  the  Big  Spring.  He  went  to  work  with 
a  will  and  soon  had  a  good  quantity  of  cut  stone  on  the 
ground.  By  building  a  perpendicular  wall  about  twenty 
feet  high  and  filling  in  well,  he  succeeded  and  had  the 
passage  wide  enough  for  wagons  to  pass.  Then  cedar  posts 
were  set  in  the  wall  and  fenced  well.  The  wall  is  still 
there  to-day  and  will  be  for  years  for  he  did  his  work  well. 

The  bridge  over  Indian  Hollow,  which  had  been  built 
many  years,  was  in  a  dilapidated  condition  in  1866.  Sam 
Clark  was  authorized  to  draw  plans  for  a  new  bridge.  He 
employed  James  Deushhurst,  who  built  a  new  bridge  for 
$600.  That  bridge  did  a  great  amount  of  service.  The 
first  bridge  cost  $184  which  was  appropriated  in  Novem- 
ber, 1836.    Later  $50  more  was  added  to  that  sum. 

About  the  first  of  March  in  1867,  James  Lemonds,  who 
had  been  county  clerk  for  some  time,  suddenly  disappeared 
from  his  home  and  the  office.  The  board  met  on  March  13, 
1867,  and  appointed  David  S.  Barnett  to  fill  out  Lemonds' 
term  of  office.  On  September  5,  1867,  Horatio  Woodbury 
was  ordered  to  examine  the  records  of  James  Lemonds  to 
see  if  any  money  was  due  the  county.  Woodbury  reported 
that  from  the  best  of  his  judgment  he  had  collected  and 
paid  into  the  treasury  $384  from  outstanding  orders,  fines 


220  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

and  fees.  There  were  many  other  debts  but  he  could  not 
tell  whether  they  were  ever  paid  or  not.  Woodbury  was 
granted  $25  for  his  labors. 

The  county  commissioners  had  many  problems  with 
which  to  worry  in  those  days.  One  finds  this  state- 
ment: ''Whereas,  John  Ayers,  a  small  boy,  who  has  not 
been  a  resident  of  the  county  long  enough  to  entitle  him 
to  be  sent  to  the  poor  farm,  and  who  has  been  deserted  by 
his  parents,  and  may  become  a  public  charge,  it  is  hereby 
ordered  that  James  M.  Clark  take  the  boy  back  to  Floyd 
County  and  leave  him  with  his  relatives,  if  any  may  be 
found,  and  if  not,  with  friends."  The  parents  of  the  child 
deserted  him  and  left  him  at  the  mercies  of  strangers. 

The  elections  of  1864  had  returned  the  Democrats  to 
power.  These  men  were  elected  to  hold  over  until  1868 : 
Dunbar  Patrick,  auditor;  Martin  H.  Tucker  had  the  hard- 
est race  of  any.  He  was  a  Democrat,  and  very  loyal  to  the 
Union.  One  day  just  before  the  election  he  came  to  Josiah 
Shaw  and  told  him  that  he  must  have  Shaw's  vote  or  he 
was  defeated.  He  claimed  that  many  of  the  Democrats  of 
Patoka  and  Sterling  townships  had  turned  against  the 
Union  and  would  not  support  him  because  he  was  for  the 
Union.  Shaw  and  Tucker  were  the  best  of  friends.  Shaw 
finally  decided  to  vote  for  Tucker,  and  when  the  votes 
were  counted  out  Tucker  was  elected  by  one  vote. 

Walter  Seacat  was  elected  treasurer  on  September  5, 
1867.  He  appeared  before  the  board  and  made  this  state- 
ment :  That  he  was  treasurer  of  the  county.  On  Saturday 
evening,  August  17,  1867,  he  locked  the  office  door,  leaving 
all  the  books,  papers  and  records  in  their  proper  places 
and  usual   files.     That  he   did  not   return   till   Monday, 


THE  TERRIBLE  SIXTIES  221 

August  19,  1867,  when  he  discovered  that  the  office  had 
been  opened  by  burglars  and  the  register  of  county  orders 
had  been  stolen  together  with  a  large  number  of  orders 
which  had  been  cancelled.  The  cancelled  orders  had  all 
been  redeemed  by  him  according  to  law.  The  orders 
amounted  to  $11,064.94.  He  had  not  had  time  to  ascertain 
to  whom  the  greater  amount  of  the  orders  had  been  paid 
or  from  what  persons  they  were  redeemed.  He  believed 
that  if  time  was  given  him  he  would  be  able  to  procure 
said  affidavits  and  properly  account  for  all  of  the  orders; 
that  owing  to  the  fact  that  persons  lived  in  various  parts 
of  the  county  remote  from  the  county  seat  much  time 
will  be  needed  to  examine  the  papers  and  records  in  the 
auditor's  office.  He  thought  that  the  matter  might  be 
attended  to  by  the  next  term  of  court.  He  has  accounted 
for  all  the  money  and  he  believes  that  if  time  is  given  him 
he  can  account  for  all  the  orders. 

The  above  paper  was  sworn  to  before  "William  Wilks, 
president  of  the  board.  After  due  consideration  the  board 
allowed  Seacat  till  the  next  term  of  court  to  get  the  matter 
straightened  out. 

Also,  it  appears  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  board  that 
the  register  of  county  orders  of  Crawford  County  will 
never  be  found.  Therefore,  it  is  ordered  that  Dunbar  Pat- 
rick make  a  blank  register  and  carefully  put  on  it  all 
the  numbers  of  the  redeemed  orders  now  on  file  in  his 
office  from  June  1,  1865.  For  such  services  the  count}' 
agrees  to  pay  Patrick  a  reasonable  sum  of  money. 

Charles  L.  Lamb  was  appointed  to  take  evidence  and 
make  a  register  of  the  county  orders  lately  stolen  from  the 


222         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

county  treasurer's  office  so  as  to  help  W.  S.  Seacat  render 
a  true  report. 

On  December  4,  1867,  Dunbar  Patrick  reported  that  he 
had  made  a  complete  record  of  all  the  orders  and  bounties 
from  1860  to  June,  1867,  for  which  he  ought  to  receive  $59. 
The  above  sum  was  allowed  him. 

Walter  Seacat  appeared  before  the  board  December  6, 
1867,  and  stated  that  after  taking  all  the  evidence  which 
they  were  willing  to  allow  in  the  case  of  the  last  orders 
which  were  stolen  from  the  treasurer's  office,  he  begged  to 
submit  the  following  statement :  When  Seacat  went  out  of 
office  August  24,  1867,  there  was  due  from  him  to  the 
county  $18,125.56.  He  paid  William  Temple  $7,050.14  and 
the  amount  of  vouchers  was  $9,363.63,  totaling  $17,413.77. 
Balance  due  the  county  was  $711.79  which  Seacat  paid. 

The  election  of  1868  was  an  exciting  one  in  Crawford 
County.  The  result  was :  Treasurer,  W.  L.  Temple ;  audi- 
tor, Malachi  Monk;  sheriff,  James  M.  Clark.  The  registers 
for  the  election  were :  Boone  township,  W.  C.  Sherill  and 
Richard  B.  Leace;  Jennings,  Casper  Kesher  and  Oliver 
N.  Beals ;  Johnson  township,  Bailey  Brown  and  A.  B. 
Tucker;  Liberty,  S.  R.  Jenner  and  William  Gibbs;  Ohio, 
James  Tadlock  and  Press  O'Bannon;  Patoka,  Jesse  Enlow 
and  Jesse  Crecelius;  Sterling,  H.  Miller  and  J.  S.  Temple; 
Union,  John  Martin  and  G.  W.  Davis ;  Whisky  Run, . 

Hugh  Stewart,  who  was  township  assessor  of  Johnson 
township,  has  failed  to  attend  the  regular  meetings  and, 
having  left  the  state  some  time  during  the  last  summer, 
leaving  the  general  impression  that  he  never  intended  to 
return,  the  county  commissioners  being  advised  of  the  mat- 
ter and  being  an  extra  session,  decided  that  he  had  vacated 


THE  TERRIBLE  SIXTIES  223 

his  office.  The  office  being  declared  vacant,  Allen  B. 
Tucker  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  on  January  1, 
1868. 

The  trustees  who  were  elected  in  1868  were :  Boone, 
H.  B.  Meylin;  Jennings,  Joel  Lyons;  Johnson,  Lewis 
Walls;  Liberty,  Cyrus  Vanmeter;  Ohio,  William  H.  Con- 
rad; Patoka,  Jacob  Tucker;  Sterling,  Joseph  H.  Ray; 
Union,  Isaac  Hafley,  Whisky  Run,  J.  F.  Sanders. 

Cost  of  the  county  in  1868 : 

Assessors    $593.50 

Poor   expenses    1,240.67 

Soldiers    669.00 

County  officers    2,001.97 

Examiners'  salary   93.50 

Teachers'   Institute    50.00 

Little  Blue  River  bridge   3,035.71 

Dry  Run  bridge   33.35 

The  above  figures  were  given  on  June  2,  1868. 

The  board  ordered  on  June  2,  1868,  that  the  elections  in 
Patoka  be  held  at  Christopher  Newton's  until  further 
notice. 

The  board  held  a  special  meeting  Monday,  October  19, 
1868,  to  hear  the  complaints  of  those  soldiers  who  claimed 
they  had  not  received  all  which  was  coming  to  them.  The 
board  met  to  accommodate  the  men  at  various  places : 
Jennings,  Monday,  October  19 ;  Whisky  Run,  Tuesday,  Oc- 
tober 20 ;  Sterling  and  Patoka,  October  21 ;  Johnson  and 
Union,  October  22;  Ohio  and  Boone,  Friday,  October  23. 

November  4,  1868,  Malachi  Monk  filed  his  bond  for 
county  auditor.    It  was  signed  John  Panky,  William  Gibbs, 


224  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

John  Benz,  E.  R.  Elliott,  Charles  L.  Lamb,  William  Mc- 
Clain,  Jesse  Mc Williams,  J.  II.  Ray,  W.  L.  Temple.  The 
board  approved  the  bond  November  4,  1868. 

The  October  election  of  1868  was  held  in  Crawford 
County  in  the  following  places: 

Leavenworth — J.  0.  Lyons,  inspector;  salary,  $1.00. 
Milltown — M.  W.  Spencer,  inspector;  salary,  $1.75. 
Marengo — J.  C.  Haskins,  inspector;  salary,  $1.78. 
English — T.  B.  dimming,  inspector, ;  salary,  $1.75. 
Patoka — Jacob  Tucker,  inspector;  salary,  $2.50. 
Johnson — Bailey  Brown,  inspector;  salary,  $2.50. 
Union — E.  F.  Roberson,  inspector;  salary,  $1.75. 
Fredonia — W.  H.  Conrad,  inspector;  salary,  $1.50. 
Alton — H.     B.     Meylin,    inspector;     salary,    $1.75. 

Charles  L.  Land  was  allowed  $37.20  for  making  a  map 
of  Crawford  County,  on  which  the  plat  of  Leavenworth 
was  shown.  Civil  townships  were  located,  too,  on  Decem- 
ber 9,  1868. 

E.  E.  Biller  presented  a  petition  for  a  road  through 
Francis  Forbes,  John  Forbes,  D.  R.  Cates,  John  Byerly, 
John  Collins  and  John  Glosson's  land.  Biller  had  no  way 
out  to  the  road  from  his  farm.  Many  farmers  did  not  like 
to  have  a  road  through  their  farms.  Biller  had  to  come 
through  their  land.  One  night  as  he  was  coming  home  near 
the  residence  of  John  Byerly  he  stopped  to  open  a  gate. 
When  he  drove  through  the  gate  and  came  back  to  close 
it  some  one  jumped  up  in  the  dark  and  struck  him  on  the 
arm  with  a  club  of  some  kind  and  broke  Biller 's  arm.  The 
board  refused  to  allow  him  a  road  on  December  9,  1868, 
but  granted  the  road  on  February  6,  1869. 


THE  TERRIBLE  SIXTIES  225 

C.  W.  Lynch,  who  had  been  elected  assessor  of  Ohio 
township,  moved  away  and  vacated  the  office.  The  board 
appointed  Houston  Goldman  to  fill  out  the  term  of  Mr. 
Lynch.         The  new  trustees  for  1869  were : 

Boone  township,  H.  B.  Meylin ;  Jennings  township,  John 
S.  Whitten;  Johnson  township,  Bailey  J.  Brown;  Liberty 
township,  C.  C.  Taylor;  Ohio  township,  W.  II.  Conrad; 
Patoka  township,  Jacob  Tucker;  Sterling  township,  T.  B. 
Cummins;  Union  township,  E.  P.  Roberson;  "Whisky  Run 
township,  J.  Sanders. 

"William  McClain,  who  was  superintendent  of  the  poor 
farm,  submitted  this  report  March  3,  1869  : 

"Comes  Real  Strand  in  a  wagon  in  poor  health  and  is 
still  in  poor  health.  George  Padgett  was  afflicted  with 
white  swelling.  He  is  in  a  serious  condition.  Both  hips 
and  thigh  seriously  affected.  Derby  Miller,  who  was  moved 
in  a  wagon,  is  sick  and  in  poor  health.  Isaac  Thornbury 
was  insane  but  able  to  do  some  work.  James  H.  Thorn- 
bury  was  allowed  $1.25  for  a  bottle  of  cod  liver  oil  for 
one  of  the  patients.     Signed:  Wm.  McClain." 

Doctor  Hawn,  who  lived  in  Leavenworth,  agreed  to  give 
medical  attention  for  one-fourth  less  than  he  charged  other 
persons. 

John  M.  Miller,  who  had  been  a  faithful  and  loyal  sol- 
dier, and  had  now  lost  his  hearing  from  the  effects  of  the 
war,  was  exempted  from  paying  poll  tax. 

The  board  raised  the  assessment  of  H.  P.  Rothrock  $800 
on  account  of  the  new  hotel  and  the  cave  and  other  im- 
provements. Members  of  the  equalization  board  were 
Malachi  Monk,  George  Riddle,  W.  N.  Bullington,  Finley 
Nash,  C.  W.  Lynch  and  Hamilton  Miller. 


226  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  assessors  and  their  salaries  for  1870  were :  Boone, 
A.  K.  Rice,  $48 ;  Jennings,  Brice  Patrick,  $62.50 ;  Johnson, 
Turley  Nash,  $43;  Liberty,  Nathan  Vanmeter,  $46;  Ohio, 
Esau  McFall,  $65 ;  Patoka,  William  Highfill,  $75 ;  Sterling, 
John  Beasley,  $80.50 ;  Whisky  Run,  Henry  Shafer,  $80.50. 

Crawford  County  has  always  been  a  patriotic  county. 
Before  Indiana  became  a  state  the  people  residing  then  in 
what  is  now  Crawford  County  gave  a  good  account  of 
themselves  in  battles. 

Peter  Funk,  who  later  became  a  captain  in  the  War  of 
1812,  led  General  Harrison's  cavalry  at  the  battle  of  Tippe- 
canoe. General  Harrison  came  from  Corydon  to  near 
where  Leavenworth  now  stands  and  held  a  powwow  with 
the  Indians  at  what  is  now  called  Indian  Hollow.  A  keg 
of  brandy  was  given  to  the  Indians  who  promised  to  remain 
friends  of  the  English.  Tradition  has  it  that  one  Indian 
became  drunk  and  went  to  sleep.  His  clothing  caught 
fire  while  he  was  asleep.  On  awaking  he  dashed  down  the 
bank  and  jumped  into  the  river  to  put  out  the  fire  which 
was  burning  him  all  the  time.  It  is  said  that  he  hollowed 
so  loudly  that  the  old  settlers  named  the  creek  Indian 
Hollow.  The  Indian  drowned  in  the  Ohio  River.  Har- 
rison visited  old  Salt  Peter  Cave,  near  Wyandotte,  where 
he  got  salt  peter  out  of  which  to  make  gun  powder  to  equip 
his  soldiers  for  the  march  to  Tippecanoe.  Peter  Funk  was 
a  famous  Indian  fighter.  He  owned  a  farm  in  Whisky 
Run  township  till  about  1835  when  he  sold  out  and  moved 
away. 

Cornelius  Ridge  of  Boone  township  was  in  the  battle 
of  New  Orleans  where  he  served  as  an  aide-de-camp  to 


THE  TERRIBLE  SIXTIES  227 

General  Jackson.  During  the  battle  he  ran  from  the  field 
to  the  city  seven  times.  He  lived  many  years  near  Alton 
till  his  death  about  1840. 

Just  how  many  Revolutionary  War  heroes  lived  In 
Crawford  County  one  can  not  tell.  After  Congress  enacted 
the  law  of  March  18,  1818,  providing  a  pension  for  these 
men,  one  finds  several  who  applied  for  the  pension.  Tim- 
othy Bennett  made  oath  that  he  enlisted  in  Captain 
Pierce's  company  in  1776.  He  fought  in  the  battle  fo 
White  Plains  under  General  Washington.  After  the  de- 
feat of  the  American  army  he  escaped  across  the  Hudson 
River.  He  is  now  an  old  man,  broken  in  years,  in  poor 
circumstances  financially,  and  begs  that  a  pension  be 
allowed  him  which  the  law  of  1818  enacted  by  Congress 
provides. 

Then  Archibald  Neal,  being  unable  to  attend  court, 
Constable  Williams,  one  of  the  justices  of  Crawford 
County,  visited  him  and  he  made  oath  that  he  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania.  He  enlisted  in  the  spring  of  1776  in 
York  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  in  Captain  Thomas 
Church's  company,  which  was  in  the  regiment  commanded 
by  Captain  Anthony  Wayne,  till  1777  when  he  was  dis- 
charged at  Chester,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  under  the 
impression  that  he  had  to  prove  his  service  by  living  wit- 
nesses, of  whom  none  were  then  living  in  the  state  to  his 
knowledge.  He  did  swear  that  he  was  a  resident  citizen 
of  the  United  States  on  March  18,  1820.  That  he  had  not 
given  his  property  away  so  that  he  could  come  under  the 
provisions  of  that  act.  He  stated  that  his  income  was 
derived  from  one  old  mare,  a  colt  eight  or  nine  months  old, 
two  cows  and  two  calves,  one  sow  and  nine  pigs,  five  shoats, 


228  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

four  sheep,  three  chairs,  one  broken  kettle,  one  oven,  one 
skillet,  one  small  pot,  one  water  bucket,  one  small  pail, 
three  plates  and  cups  and  one  broken  glass.  By  occupation 
he  was  a  weaver,  but  had  not  been  able  to  pursue  his  work 
for  twenty  years  on  account  of  a  pain  in  his  side,  head  and 
breast,  and  afflicted  with  spitting  of  blood.  He  had  a  wife 
named  Margaret  Neal,  age  fifty  years,  who  was  not  able 
to  support  herself  on  account  of  rheumatism.  He  had  one 
son,  Jonathan  Neal,  who  was  able  to  support  himself  by 
his  work.  The  above  data  were  taken  on  March  10,  1827, 
by  Constance  Williams,  one  of  the  county  justices. 

The  court  records  show  that  Constance  Williams  made 
oath  that  he  was  born  in  Plainfield,  Connecticut,  and  that 
he  enlisted  in  Captain  Kellogg 's  company.  Later  he  en- 
tered the  army  before  the  surrender  of  General  Burgoyne. 
He  was  drafted  for  four  months'  service  and  taken  to  Lake 
George  and  put  under  Ethan  Allen.  No  written  discharge 
was  ever  given  him.  His  captain's  name  was  Dewey,  but 
he  did  not  remember  who  his  general  was.  He  did  not 
have  any  discharge  and  could  not  prove  his  service,  but 
claimed  that  he  came  under  the  provisions  of  the  "Law  of 
June  7,  1832."  The  above  oath  was  approved  by  Black- 
well  and  Abraham  Bates. 

The  county  commissioners'  records  of  March,  1848, 
show  that  Alexander  Black  was  refunded  $1.85  for 
erroneous  taxes  charged  him,  he  being  a  Revolutionary 
War  soldier. 

The  records  of  the  Mexican  War  have  been  kept  in  such 
a  way  that  one  can  not  find  what  men  Crawford  County 
furnished. 


CHAPTER   XIV 


THE  CIVIL  WAR 


When  the  Civil  War  broke  out  in  1861,  and  President 
Lincoln  called  for  volunteers  to  put  down  the  rebellion  in 
the  South,  Crawford  County  was  expected  to  furnish  her 
quota  of  volunteers.  How  nobly  her  sons  answered  the 
call  and  how  bravely  her  young  men  died  on  the  battle- 
fields history  will  never  be  able  to  reveal.  Neither  can 
justice  be  done  to  all  of  her  noble  sons  who  fought,  bled 
and  died  upon  the  blood-stained  fields  of  the  South.  Un- 
known to  fame  and  forgotten  at  home  many  of  her  soldiers 
sleep  in  unmarked  graves.  The  records  are  so  deficient 
in  many  cases  that  one  can  not  tell  what  became  of  the 
soldiers.  The  writer  has  spent  much  time  and  many  days 
of  hard  study  to  deal  out  justice  to  one  and  all.  So  with 
malice  toward  none  and  with  charity  for  all  he  will  under- 
take the  task. 

There  was  a  rush  for  the  recruiting  stations  when  Gov- 
ernor Morton  called  for  men.  Camp  Noble  was  organized 
at  New  Albany  and  Camp  Morton  at  Indianapolis.  Six 
regiments  were  filled  before  any  of  our  boys  reached  the 
camps. 

The  Thirteenth  Indiana  Volunteers  had  these  men : 
John    Lynch,    Henry    Breeden    and    Andrew    Bottles    of 

229 


230  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Leavenworth.  Breeden  died  in  Raleigh  July  13,  1865.  The 
other  two  were  discharged  in  1865. 

The  Seventeenth  contained  these  men :  George  Lon- 
nigan,  Thomas  Lough,  Marsh  Land,  Eli  Jones,  Isaac  John- 
son, Thomas  B.  Goodson,  Henry  Baily,  William  Strand, 
Press  O'Bannan  and  John  Good.  Baily  died  July  5,  1862, 
and  William  Strand  was  discharged  on  account  of  wounds. 
David  Stephenson  said  that  the  history  of  this  regiment 
was  full  of  so  many  incidents:  "So  gallant  has  been  the 
conduct  of  the  soldiers;  so  invincible  on  the  field  of  battle 
that  by  common  consent  the  regiment  has  been  given  the 
name  of  the  'Old  Guard,'  which  name  it  proudly  cher- 
ishes, and  so  far  it  has  never  recoiled." 

Roach  of  Fredonia,  Isaac  Johnson  of  Fredonia,  were 
discharged  in  August,  1865.  Lough  of  Leavenworth,  died 
August  13,  1862;  Goodson  of  Magnolia  was  discharged  in 
September,  1862.  Baily  of  Leavenworth  died  July  5,  1862. 
Strand  of  Leavenworth  was  discharged  on  account  of 
wounds. 

The  next  regiment  which  contained  Crawford  Count}^ 
boys  was  the  Twenty-third  Indiana  Volunteers.  One  finds 
these  names :  Jim  Totten,  John  W.  Portlock,  Charles 
Mansfield,  Levi  Brown,  Harve  Gibbs,  S.  B.  Portlock,  Will- 
iam H.  Toney,  John  Good,  Jesse  Fesler,  Robert  Cazee, 
Henry  Epperson,  James  Acres,  Luther  Able,  Fielding 
Gilliland  (died  of  wounds  at  Kenesaw  Mountain  June  20, 
1864)  ;  W.  W.  Thompson,  William  Riley,  Robert  Riley, 
Ross  Culter,  George  Good,  James  Cunningham,  William 
McBurn,  Charles  Pierson,  Abraham  Payton,  G.  W.  Rajin, 
George  A.  Reason,  George  W.  Rainey,  Martin  Stiles,  John 
Snider,  Daniel  Stroughton,  Paul   Strickland,   Lewis  Sud- 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  231 

darth,  "William  Stiles,  Noah  Scales,  W.  H.  Scott,  Allen 
Springer,  James  Sprinkle,  James  Thomas,  Sam  Tucker, 
William  Underbill,  Eli  VanWinkle,  Phelix  Wiseman,  David 
Wiseman,  George  E.  Wiseman,  Philip  Wiseman,  Robert 
Wilson,  Virgil  Ash,  George  Abel,  J.  P.  Armstrong,  August 
Andrew,  J.  P.  Armstrong,  James  Brown,  George  Brown, 
James  Bryant,  Daniel  Burt,  Dan  Beals,  James  Courtney, 
Thomas  Courtney,  John  Curl,  William  Connor,  John  For- 
man,  Peter  Green,  John  Grant,  Wm.  H.  Goldman,  George 
W.  Gilliland,  Albert  Hash,  John  Hawell,  George  Heath, 
Alfred  Hatfield,  Jacob  Halley,  George  Ingleman,  Henry 
King,  James  J.  Killems,  Nicholas  Klipper,  John  Kemp, 
James  Laswell,  John  Laswell,  D.  M.  Laswell,  John  Lake 
(killed  at  Raymond  May  12,  1862)  ;  George  Lake,  Francis 
Lynch,  John  Moore,  William  McClure,  Elisha  Myers,  Jacob 
Murray,  John  Mentz,  Thomas  Mallery,  Finley  Nash,  Sam 
Nash,  Wilxbine  Newkirk,  John  Pearson,  Martin  Pickett, 
James  Pickett,  William  Pickett. 

The  Twenty-third  Indiana  Volunteers  was  a  noted  regi- 
ment. It  was  organized  at  New  Albany  July  29,  1861. 
Company  D  contained  five  men  and  Company  H  had 
ninety-eight  men  from  Crawford  County.  Captains  Ab- 
bott, Moore,  Lyons,  McHugh,  Springer  and  Moore  were 
Crawford  County  men;  Bullington,  Good,  Lyons,  George 
Good  and  John  Martin  were  first  lieutenants. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Camp  Noble  till  August  13, 
1861,  when  an  order  came  to  report  at  Indianapolis  with- 
out delay.  On  the  15th  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
regiment  marched  out  of  the  public  square  while  the  peo- 
ple of  New  Albany  presented  the  regiment  with  a  beautiful 
stand  of  colors.    After  the  presentation  the  men  were  given 


232         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

time  to  bid  their  fathers,  mothers  and  sweethearts  good-by. 
When  the  farewell  reception  was  over  the  regiment 
marched  to  Jeffersonville,  Indiana,  where  it  entrained  for 
Indianapolis  where  the  regiment  arrived  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  that  same  day.  The  regiment  went 
into  camp. 

On  the  17th  of  August  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  St. 
Louis  where  it  arrived  on  the  19th  and  encamped  in 
Lafayette  Park,  where  the  men  were  armed  with  guns  and 
furnished  with  tents.  The  regiment  remained  here  till 
September  17th,  when  it  embarked  on  transports  and  sailed 
for  Paducah,  Kentucky,  arriving  there  on  September  20th. 
While  here  the  regiment  took  part  in  a  number  of  maneu- 
vers and  finally  marched  against  Fort  Henry  and  Fort 
Donaldson.  It  arrived  at  a  point  six  miles  below  Fort 
Henry  on  the  5th  of  February,  1862,  and  took  part  in  that 
battle  on  the  6th,  losing  ten  men  in  killed  and  wounded  by 
an  exploding  shell  on  the  gun  boat  Essex.  The  regiment 
remained  here  till  about  the  sixth  of  March  when  it 
steamed  to  Crump's  Landing  where  it  remained  till  April 
6th,  at  which  time  it  was  ordered  forward  to  take  part  in 
the  battle  of  Shiloh.  The  regiment  did  not  arrive  in  time 
to  do  any  fighting  the  first  day,  but  it  was  one  of  the  first 
on  the  field  the  second  day.  It  sustained  a  loss  of  fifty- 
four  killed  and  wounded.  After  the  battle  the  regiment 
remained  on  the  field  several  days.  Then  the  regiment 
went  to  help  in  the  siege  of  Corinth.  From  there  the 
division,  of  which  the  Twenty-third  was  a  part,  went  to 
Bolivar,  Tennessee,  and  thence  to  Memphis.  The  Twenty- 
third  remained  at  Bolivar  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Sanderson  till  October,  when  it  was  put  in  motion  under 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  233 

General  Grant,  who  began  a  campaign  through  Tennessee 
and  Mississippi.  Late  in  October  the  regiment  moved  to 
Holly  Springs,  and  from  there  down  the  river  toward 
Jackson,  Mississippi.  In  the  meanwhile  General  Murphy 
surrendered  Holly  Springs  to  the  rebel  leader,  General 
YanDorn,  who  had  cut  off  all  their  supplies  and  left  the 
regiment  in  a  starving  condition.  The  regiment  re-crossed 
the  Tallahatchie  River  and  went  into  camp  where  it  lived 
on  scanty  provisions  which  it  obtained  by  foraging.  Dur- 
ing those  starving  days  a  very  amusing  incident  occurred. 
The  story  was  told  me  by  John  W.  Portlock,  who  was  a 
member.  It  seems  that  Captain  Babbitt,  who  loved  cream 
in  his  coffee  so  much,  had  taken  his  cow  along  with  him. 
One  dark  night  the  soldiers  decided  that  they  would 
butcher  Captain  Babbitt's  cow.  A  committee  did  the  work 
and  divided  up  the  meat,  a  small  piece  of  which  went  to 
each  soldier.  The  next  day  the  cow  was  gone.  The  cap- 
tain never  said  a  word.  After  a  few  clays  a  lieutenant  had 
taken  a  company  of  the  Twenty-third  out  for  trench  dig- 
ging. They  had  marched  back  and  were  just  ready  for 
the  lieutenant  to  dismiss  them  when  Captain  Babbitt  rode 
up  and  cried  out :  ' '  Lieutenant,  do  not  dismiss  those  men 
until  you  have  had  time  to  search  their  haversacks  to  see 
if  they  have  a  pick  or  shovel  stored  therein."  The  lieu- 
tenant did  not  understand  and  said:  "Captain  Babbitt, 
they  can  not  put  a  hoe  or  a  shovel  in  their  haversacks. ' ' 

"Oh,  yes  they  can!  They  put  a  bigger  thing  than  a 
hoe  in  there.     They  put  my  cow  there." 

Mr.  Portlock  said  that  all  the  men  dropped  their  heads 
and  would  not  look  their  captain  in  the  face.  After  a  few 
seconds  the  captain 's  face  brightened  and  he  said  :    ' '  Boys, 


234  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

I  do  not  blame  you.  I  know  you  were  hungry.  I  would 
get  you  food  if  I  could.  May  God  bless  you,  men!"  The 
men  never  forgot  Captain  Babbitt. 

Late  in  February  the  regiment  embarked  for  Lake 
Providence  in  Louisiana  where  it  remained  till  late  in  the 
month,  until  the  rebels  ran  the  regiment  out  by  cutting  the 
levees  on  the  Mississippi  River.  Soon  the  regiment  was 
moved  to  Milliken  's  bend  where  the  army  was  being  organ- 
ized to  move  against  Vicksburg.  "While  here  volunteers 
were  called  for  to  run  the  boats  by  the  shore  batteries  to 
get  food  to  the  men  below.  The  Twenty-third  furnished 
seventy  men  for  this  occasion. 

One  of  the  most  daring  Union  men  from  Crawford 
County  was  Nathan  Collins.  For  many  years  he  had  been 
a  river  captain.  General  Grant  sent  for  Collins  on  April 
22,  1863,  and  had  a  long  talk  with  him.  Sitting  on  a  log 
on  the  bank  of  the  river  near  Young's  Creek,  Grant  gave 
Collins  final  instructions  and  promised  him  a  large  amount 
of  cotton  that  was  on  board  of  different  transports  if  he 
made  the  trip  successfully.  Later,  on  the  morning  of  the 
22nd  of  April,  the  Harrison,  which  was  Captain  Collins' 
boat,  steamed  out  from  the  landing  and  started  on  her 
perilous  trip  to  New  Carthage,  below  Vicksburg.  She  had 
gone  but  a  short  distance  when  the  terrific  fire  from  the 
Confederate  batteries  threatened  to  destroy  the  boat  before 
it  had  proceeded  to  a  point  in  the  river  opposite  the  city. 
Perceiving  the  situation  Captain  Collins  ran  his  boat  right 
into  the  bank  under  the  guns  of  the  rebel  batteries.  Many 
of  the  guns  were  placed  so  that  they  could  not  be  trained 
on  the  boats  near  the  shore  so  well  as  they  could  those  out 
in  the  center  of  the  river.    Although  the  boat  was  consider- 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  235 

ably  damaged,  the  pilot  house  being  almost  shot  away  and 
three  spokes  shot  out  of  the  wheel,  Captain  Collins  landed 
without  the  loss  of  a  man  at  New  Carthage.  For  the  above 
brave  act  Captain  Collins  never  was  rewarded,  the  cotton 
being  destroyed. 

April  27th  the  army  took  up  the  line  of  march  around 
Vicksburg,  crossing  the  Mississippi  on  the  29th  at  Hard 
Times  Landing,  and  on  May  1,  1863,  fought  the  battle  of 
Thompson's  Hills.  After  a  two  hours'  battle  the  ammuni- 
tion gave  out  and  the  Twenty-third  was  ordered  back, 
after  losing  thirty-four  men. 

On  May  12  the  famous  battle  of  Raymond  was  fought. 
The  regiment  lost  131,  one  of  whom  was  John  Lake  of 
Crawford  County.  A  number  of  the  boys  were  captured, 
among  whom  was  John  W.  Portlock. 

At  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  the  regiment  operated  against 
Fort  Hill  under  which  a  mine  was  exploded.  After  blow- 
ing up  the  fort  the  enemies  engaged  our  men  in  a  desperate 
battle  for  many  hours,  during  which  many  of  the  regi- 
ment's best  men  were  killed.  Finally,  overwhelming  num- 
bers of  the  enemies  came  and  the  regiment  was  beaten 
back. 

After  the  capture  of  Vicksburg  the  regiment  remained 
there  till  August,  1863.  Then  it  was  ordered  out  to  help 
in  the  campaign  against  Monroe,  Louisiana,  on  the  Wachita 
River.  The  regiment  did  garrison  duty  after  the  above 
campaign  at  Black  River  for  some  time  until  it  was  called 
to  Helena,  Arkansas.  On  the  12th  of  May,  1864,  the  regi- 
ment was  given  a  furlough  home.  Later  many  of  the  men 
enlisted  again.  The  old  regiment  was  organized  for  three 
years'  service. 


236  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

From  the  return  of  the  men  till  the  close  of  the  war 
the  Twenty-third  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fray.  It  was  in 
the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps  which  served  under  Sherman 
on  his  grand  campaign  against  Atlanta.  After  the  capture 
of  Atlanta  the  regiment  helped  chase  Hood  till  Sherman 
was  ready  to  march  against  Savannah  when  the  Twenty- 
third  joined  in  that  famous  march  through  Georgia.  After 
the  capture  of  Savannah  and  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army 
and  Johnston's  army,  the  regiment  visited  Washington, 
thence  to  Louisville,  where  it  was  mustered  out  of  service 
on  July  23,  1865. 

James  Merritt  and  William  H.  Conrad  of  Fredonia 
were  in  the  Twenty-sixth  Regiment. 

The  Twenty-eighth  Regiment  or  the  First  Cavalry  con- 
tained many  of  Crawford  County's  boys.  Major  William 
V.  Weathers  and  Robert  Clendening  served  with  distinc- 
tion all  through  the  war.  J.  J.  Patterson  was  assistant 
surgeon,  Wm.  B.  Ellsworth,  William  W.  Sloan  (killed  at 
Round  Hill,  Arkansas,  July  7,  1862),  Wm.  B.  Tucker,  W. 
W.  Sloan  and  Chas.  L.  Lamb  were  officers  in  the  regiment. 
The  roll  of  the  men  contained  these  names :  Charles  Lamb, 
J.  J.  Patterson,  Jesse  Craig,  James  Fleming,  William  P. 
Tucker,  James  Hamlin,  James  Bennett,  Wickliffe  Gibbs, 
Wilson  Key,  Wm,  Ellsworth,  John  C.  Forbes,  Samuel  E. 
Williams,  Nathan  Collins,  Isom  Key,  William  Clendening, 
James  W.  Callahan,  Thomas  Miller  (disabled  January  8, 
1863)  ,  Lemuel  T.  Rogers  (died  on  Mississippi  December 
20,  1864),  William  Goodin,  M.  H.  Tucker  (captured  at 
Marks'  Mill)  ,  Patterson  Apple,  Aaron  Bailey,  Robert  A. 
Roll,  John  L.  Brown,  Emery  Behen,  Daniel  J.  Brown, 
Zachariah   George   Bunch,   John   Carroll,   John   Callahan, 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  237 

Wash  Colclusure  (disabled  August,  1863),  John  Courtney, 
John  L.  Crawford,  James  A.  Curts,  George  Denbo,  W.  W. 
Dean,  William  Dooley,  George  Elliott,  William  Engleman 
(died  at  St.  Louis  January  21,  1863),  Wash  Fleming,  A.  J. 
Houghton,  William  Houghton,  Sam  G.  Jackson,  Michael 
Ketzner,  James  S.  Kelso,  Henry  M.  Land,  Winfred  Lamb, 
Joseph  Land,  Wm.  J.  Lee,  David  Markley  (died  at  Du- 
vall's  Bluff,  Arkansas,  August  29,  1864),  Henry  Harris, 
Artemus  Murphey,  Wm.  B.  Monroe,  Peter  Neal,  Alonzo 
Adle,   Ananiaas   Patrick    (died   at   Pine   Bluff,   Arkansas, 

15,  1864),  John  Pickard  (captured  at  Marks'  Mill), 

Henry  Riddle,  William  Roberts,  Fielding  Robinson,  B.  F. 
Sharp  (died  at  Helena,  Arkansas,  February  22,  1863), 
Sam  Sherren,  Harrison  Sloan,  William  Summers  (killed  in 
action  March  18,  1864),  S.  Leander  Totten,  George  H. 
Tucker,  Wm.  Van  Hoover  (died  at  Duvall's  Bluff,  August 
22,  1864),  Sylvester  Van  Winkle,  Wm.  Waldon,  James  L. 
Weathers,  H.  E.  Weathers,  W.  W.  Weathers,  Martin  Wise, 
Benjamin  White.  The  above  list  of  names  was  obtained 
from  Terrell's  reports. 

The  Twenty-ninth  has  this  statement :  Harve  Gibbs  de- 
serted on  August  30,  1865. 

The  Thirty-eighth  Indiana  Volunteers  was  a  noted  reg- 
iment. Crawford  County  furnished  these  brave  men : 
William  Sisson,  Tapley  Hughes,  James  C.  Mills,  James 
Pankey,  George  W.  Roberson,  Thomas  Stratton,  George 
Stewart,  James  Taylor,  David  F.  Taylor,  Isaac  Taylor, 
Wm.  E.  Teawait,  Edmund  Toney,  Nathan  VanMeter, 
Elijah  Weathers,  Hardin  P.  Wood,  Aaron  Bowman,  J.  M. 
Bowman,  Samuel  Bowman  (died  at  Chattanooga,  March 
27,  1864),  Moses  0.  Goldman   (died  at  Madison  April  30, 


238  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

1864),  Harvey  Payton,  James  W.  Ringer,  Wm.  W.  Sloan, 
Solomon  Weathers  (killed  at  Atlanta  July  21,  1864),  John 
A.  Sheckles,  James  G.  Land,  Wm.  Goodson,  James  W. 
Sturgeon,  Marion  Archibald,  John  Butt,  Peter  Curl,  Wm. 
R.  Denbo  (died  at  Madison  April  30,  1864),  William 
P.  Dunn,  Jacob  Dean,  Richard  Dean,  John  W.  Fray, 
Thomas  W.  Goodson,  George  Goodson,  James  S.  Jen- 
kins, James  Laswell,  John  R.  Lynch,  Obediah  Mc- 
Quire,  Noble  Mounts  (died  at  Lyne's  Station  March  20, 
1864),  William  H.  Purcell  (killed  at  Kenesaw  Mountain 
June  20,  1864),  John  D.  Root,  Ben  Stewart,  George  W. 
Seaton,  James  K.  P.  Summers  (deserted  November  9, 
1864),  Milton  Woolans  (died  at  Chattanooga  March  20, 
1864),  Joseph  W.  Walker  (died  at  Chattanooga  June  28, 
1864),  John  Yates  (killed  by  accident  July  14,  1864). 

The  Fortieth  Regiment  had  these  volunteers :  James 
Julian,  George  Roseberry  Jacob  Sheets,  John  Starkey, 
Henry  Baker,  William  J.  Blyston. 

The  Forty-second  Regiment  had  one  volunteer,  Martin 
C.  Harvey. 

The  Forty-ninth  Indiana  Volunteers  contained  these 
men:  Elwood  Winder,  Milltown  (deserted  November  25, 
1862),  Loring  Hazen,  James  H.  Eaton,  J.  J.  Gibson, 
Thomas  Harvey  (sent  home  disabled  September  3,  1862), 
William  Harvey  (died  December  14,  1861),  William  Holly, 
Sam  Sturgeon,  William  Sturgeon  (died  at  Memphis  March 
17,  1863),  Hiram  Stephens  (sent  home  February  20,  1863), 
John  Sullivan,  Lafayette  Stephens,  James  Straughn,  Jonas 
Totten  (died  at  Camp  Cattrel,  Tenn.,  June  29,  1862),  Wm. 
Todd,  Daniel  VanWinkle,  Francis  VanHoozer,  Newton 
Wright,   Seraphin   Watkins,   Thomas   Yarker,    Sam  Noad 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  239 

(died  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  December  6,  1864),  Michael  Pay- 
ton,  Morrison  Scott,  Albian  Shaw,  Lewis  Woodford,  Vol- 
ney  Shaw,  Allen  Johnson,  Henry  Kaga,  George  Kemp, 
Randolph  Kellams,  Nicholas  Kimes  (died  at  Morgantown, 
La.,  June  20,  1864),  Joseph  Knott,  Thomas  Long,  Charles 
Lynch,  Newton  Miller  (died  at  Cumberland  Ford  March 
18,  1865),  David  McGowan,  William  McFall,  James  Moore, 
Nathaniel  Patton,  John  Patrick,  Ben  Perkins,  James  Rid- 
dle (died  at  Young's  Point,  La.,  on  Feb.  22,  1862,  Thomas 
Roberts,  William  Roberts,  Martin  Roise,  Manford  Robin- 
son, Gibson  Roop  (died  att  Bardstown,  Ky),  William 
Roach  (died  Jan.  7,  1863),  John  Shaw,  Simson  Sharp 
(died  at  Cumberlands  Ford  April  13,  1862),  Volney  Shaw, 
William  II.  Bullington  (sent  home  disabled  June  24,  1863), 
James  A.  Creath,  Sterling  Coleman,  Joseph  Cunningham 
(died  at  Fredonia  June  26,  1862),  Labran  Gregory  (died 
at  Young's  Point,  La.,  July  18,  1863),  Templeton  H.  Dunn, 
James  Daugherty,  Isaac  Figgens,  Dan  Figgens,  Sam  Ford, 
Hiram  T.  Froman  (died  by  accidental  wound  May  16, 
1864),  Charles  French  (killed  at  Chickasaw  Bayou  Dec. 
28,  1862),  Andrew  Goodson,  George  Goodson,  William 
Goodson  (died  at  Cumberland  Ford  April  23,  1862), 
Henry  Grey,  Henry  Greyhill  (died  of  wounds  Jan.  9, 
1863),  Ira  Grot,  William  Graham,  Thomas  Hayes  (sent 
home),  James  Haynes,  John  Hume,  Hardin  Hume,  Chris 
Jenkins,  Mitch  Johnson,  John  P.  Wyman,  Louis  Woodford, 
Edward  Newhill,  John  Peckinpaugh,  T.  T.  Reynolds,  John 
W.  Walker,  F.  M.  Myers,  Arthur  Ward,  Sam  Boatman, 
Henry  K.  Jenkins,  Henry  Hardin  McCullum  (died  at 
Cumberland  Gap  Aug.  25,  1862),  Oscar  Turner,  William 
Peters,  George  Collingwood   (died  at  Young's  Point,  La., 


240  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Feb.  14,  1862),  Horace  Williams,  Allen  Franklin,  Brown 
Bryant,  William  H.  Allen,  Jonathan  Boartman  (died  at 
St.  Louis  July  8,  1863),  Joseph  Baker,  Oliver  Bealer, 
Henry  Bliss,  John  Blackman  (deserted  June  19,  1863), 
Addison  F.  Brown,  Sam  Brooks,  Milton  Gilbert,  John 
Goodwin,  James  Gregory  (died  at  English  Sept.  6,  1863), 
Jacob  Heishman,  Andrew  Heishman,  Levi  Heishman  (died 
at  Milliken's  Bend  June  19,  1863),  Isaac  Hall  (died  at 
Barboursville,  Ky.,  April  22,  1862),  Wilfred  Heath,  John 
V.  Vendron,  James  Hagan,  Jacob  Haskins,  Evan  Hughes 
(died  in  Crawford  County  Dec.  12,  1863),  John  McMable, 
Stephen  McAdams,  John  McAdams,  William  Weathers 
(sent  home  April  11,  1863),  Marion  Mingus  (died  at  Black 
River  Bridge,  Miss.,  July  3,  1863),  Edgar  Minus,  John 
Moore,  David  Montgomery,  Daniel  Mourer  (killed  at  Jack- 
son, Miss.,  July  13,  1863),  Valentine  Montgomery,  Colum- 
bus Bartles,  William  Bird,  Charles  F.  Brening  (died  Oct. 
21,  1864),  Lewis  Briles  (deserted  Oct.  21,  1864),  F.  M. 
Brandenburg,  James  E.  Brown,  Roden  Bunch,  George  W. 
Byr,  William  W.  Byerly  (died  at  Cumberland  Gap  Sept. 
5,  1862),  Levi  Clendening,  James  Clovin,  W.  E.  Crawford, 
Alford  Crawford,  John  Crawford,  James  Crandall,  James 
Crane,  John  Crane,  William  Crane,  John  Craig  (died  at 
Milliken's  Bend  May  3,  1863),  James  Dunbar  (deserted 
Nov.  22,  1862),  Jonathan  Esarey,  Francis  Evans,  John 
French,  Fielding  Funk,  James  L.  Lynch,  Adam  Spond 
(died  March  31,  1862),  San  Sturgeon,  John  Timberlake, 
Mike  Patton,  Nathaniel  Pay  ton,  Benjamin  Pitchier,  Rich- 
ard Weathers  (discharged  Jan.  3,  1862),  R.  M.  Craig, 
George  W.  Swan  (discharged  June  8,  1862),  Perry  Wilkes, 
Oliver   Whitcomb,   Sam  Williams    (died   at   Jeffersonville 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  241 

Dec.  3,  1861),  Jim  Cunningham  sent  home  March  7,  1863), 
Felix  Hawkins,  John  T.  Weathers  (sent  home  March  17, 
1863),  James  Van  Winkle  (died  at  London,  Ky.,  June  15, 
1862),  Harrison  Brown,  Sullivan  Lyons,  Wm.  J.  Jackson, 
John  R.  Weathers.  (The  Terrell  reports  show  that  he 
deserted  but  this  was  a  mistake  made  by  the  army  officers)  ; 
Brazilla  Dotson,  George  Emery,  Allen  Emery  (died  at 
Cumberland  Ford  March  13,  1862),  Wesley  Mower,  Levi 
Murray  (died  March  5,  1864),  Ben  Muirit,  James  Nove, 
Harrison  Newkirk  (died  at  Lebanon,  Ky.,  Jan.  1,  1862), 
William  Orwick  (deserted  Jan.  18,  1863),  Joseph  Pate, 
Philo  Rease,  Justice  Rease  (died  in  Harrison  County  Dec. 
7,  1863),  Hamilton  Rainboldt  (died  at  Cumberland  Gap, 
Ky.,  Aug.  17,  1861),  William  Root,  John  Perkluser,  Alph 
Romine,  Robert  Sloan,  Andrew  Speedy,  Reuben  Sande- 
heberl,  Isaac  Stroud  (died  at  Carrolton,  La.,  Aug.  16, 
1863),  Sam  Temple  (deserted  Sept.  15,  1862),  W.  W. 
Tower,  Henry  Trobaugh,  Eden  Tutler  (died  at  Jefferson- 
ville,  Ind.,  Dec.  14,  1861),  David  Vurben  (killed  at  Vicks- 
burg),  James  Vaugh  (deserted  Nov.  22,  1862),  T.  T.  Wood. 

The  roll  of  the  Fifty-third  had  these  names:  Henry 
McCown,  William  H.  Bullock,  Zachariah  Barker,  Lyman 
Hockman,  John  W.  Collins,  Elijah  W.  Knowland,  Squire 
Mock. 

The  Fifty-eighth  had  these  men  in  the  regiment :  Will- 
iam E.  Crawford,  George  W.  Arms,  Francis  Bayles,  Bev- 
erly Radcliffe. 

The  Fifty-ninth  had  these  men  in  the  regiment:  Alec 
Botman,  Francis  Briscoe,  John  H.  Freeman,  Davis  Fried 
(sent  home  wounded  in  1862),  Ebenezer  Gott,  John  Key, 
Ephraim  Overly,  Henry  Radcliff   (died  at  Corinth,  Miss., 


242         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

July  14,  1862),  William  Ritchie,  Jeremiah  Strand  (sent 
home  disabled  Aug.  19,  1862),  Elijah  Tower,  Joseph  West, 
Zachariah  Funk,  Andrew  Hanselman,  George  McDonald, 
James  D.  Taylor. 

The  Sixty-sixth  Regiment  had  these  men  from  Craw- 
ford County:  Silas  Sheckels,  Bennett  Cromwell  (died  at 
Colliersville,  Tenn.,  Sept.  6,  1863),  William  II.  Myers  (died 
at  Louisville  Dec.  22,  1862),  Sam  Mullens  (died  in  State 
Prison  at  Jeffersonville  Jan.  10,  1863),  Joel  Key,  John 
Kemp,  John  Reasor  (died  at  Corinth,  Miss.,  Feb.  7,  1863), 
A.  J.  Wells,  John  Gaither,  Thomas  Epperson,  John  S. 
Levi  (killed  at  Richmond,  Ky.,  Aug.  30,  1862),  William 
Harris,  Chris  Taylor,  Silas  Sheckels  (died  at  Pulaski, 
Tenn.,  March  9,  1864),  E.  Fowler,  George  E.  Wiseman, 
David  Perkins,  Daniel  Haycock,  George  Sillings,  Peter 
Nolan,  William  Albins,  William  Armstrong,  George  H. 
Austin,  John  Balldock  (sent  home  wounded  March  7, 
1863),  Michael  Baysinger  (sent  home  on  account  of  old 
age  Dec.  3,  1862),  Robert  Bolurnly  (killed  at  Richmond, 
Ky.,  Aug.  30,  1862),  Louis  Bullington  (died  at  Corinth, 
Miss.,  Feb.  22,  1863),  Wash  Bullock,  Robert  Bullock,  John 
Burns,  Daniel  Carver,  James  Chanley,  Resen  Chanley,  Sam 
Claycomb  (died  in  Andersonville  prison  April  29,  1864,  a 
very  noted  and  cruel  prison  for  soldiers  in  Georgia),  Will- 
iam B.  Clark,  William  Cornelison,  Joseph  Coleman,  Will- 
iam Collingwood  (killed  at  Richmond,  Ky.,  Aug.  30,  1862), 
William  A.  Combs  (died  in  Indianapolis  Jan.  31,  1863), 
Jonathan  Cunningham,  George  Cunningham  (died  at 
Atlanta  Oct.  23,  1864),  Tom  Dooley,  Oliver  Dooley,  James 
Dooley,  Thomas  Doyle  (drowned  in  the  Ohio  river  Oct. 
15,  1862),  Don  O'Duffin,  James  M.  Duffin,  James  H.  Eaton, 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  243 

San  Eaton  (died  at  Alton,  111.,  Oct.  12,  1863),  John  Ran- 
dall, John  Riddle  (killed  at  Richmond  Aug.  30,  1862), 
James  M.  Rogers,  William  II.  Roberson,  James  Rodgers, 
James  Russell  (killed  at  Richmond,  Ky.,  Aug.  30,  1862), 
William  Seaton,  William  Seris,  Isom  Smith,  Martin  Smith, 
Reuben  Stephenson  (died  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  Feb.  18, 
1865),  John  L.  Temple,  Lorenzo  Thornbury  (died  from 
wounds  at  Resaca  June  7,  1864),  Glohson  Wilson,  William 
Wiseman,  Ali  Wiseman,  Nathan  Wright,  James  Arm- 
strong, Henry  Byerly  (died  at  Pulaski,  Tenn.,  April  13, 
1864),  AVm.  Haycock,  Thomas  Haycock,  James  Holly  (died 
at  Indianapolis  Jan.  3,  1863),  Sam  Longest  (died  at  In- 
dianapolis Nov.  27,  1862),  Wm.  Moore,  James  Eastes  (died 
at  Louisville  Nov.  30,  1864),  Charles  Filker  (died  at 
Corinth,  Miss.,  Jan.  22,  1863;  John  Freeman  (died  at 
Marietta,  Georgia.,  Sept.  3,  1864),  Levi  Franklin,  James 
Gibson  (died  at  Corinth  March  9,  1863),  Johnson  Gibson 
(died  at  New  Albany  Nov.  7,  1862),  Gabriel  Good,  John 
W.  Hammond,  William  Harrison,  William  C.  Hardin,  Sam 
Jenkins,  Henry  M.  Jenkins,  Francis  Jones  (died  at  Indian- 
apolis Jan.  31,  1863),  Nicholas  Jones,  Isaac  Jones,  Miles 
Kemp,  David  Lambdin,  Wm.  Lane,  Andrew  Lake,  Isaac 
Land,  Theopolis  Longest,  Peter  Miller,  Fred  Miller, 
Philander  Newell. 

The  Seventy-fourth  Indiana  Volunteers  contained  these 
Crawford  County :  Joseph  Neeley,  Thomas  Myers,  Jesse 
Richards,  Denison  Pruitt,  Elijah  Bivans  (killed  at  Rich- 
mond Aug.  30,  1862),  Asa  Blankenship,  Elijah  Clawson 
(died  at  Rome  Nov.  10,  1862),  John  Cornelius,  Albert 
Dryar,  Sam  Hubbard,  James  Hatton,  Richard  Hatton, 
Noel  Johnson  (killed  at  Richmond  Aug.  30,  1862),  Luther 


244  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Kail,  Jasper  Height  (died  at  Indianapolis  March  15,  1863), 
Francis  Ritter,  William  Wiseheart. 

The  Seventy-third  Indiana  Volunteers  had  these  two 
men  from  Crawford  County:  John  Moore  and  Jonathan 
Poe. 

The  Seventh-fourth  Indiana  Volunteers  contain  these 
men :     William  Sibert  and  Thomas  Smith. 

The  Seventy-seventh  Indiana  Volunteers  or  the  Fourth 
Cavalry  had  one  soldier  from  Crawford  County,  James  N. 
Montgomery,  who  died  August  24,  1864. 

The  Eighty-first  Indiana  Volunteers  contained  these 
men:  Elijah  T.  Bell,  William  P.  Bird  (died  at  Murfrees- 
boro  May  10,  1863),  Sam  Bird,  John  Berkshire,  Francis 
Eddleman,  Adam  Eddleman,  Greenip  Moore,  James  E. 
Spencer,  Hiram  Spencer  (shot  at  Stone  River  Dec.  31, 
1862),  Simon  Stroud,  James  Richie  (killed  at  Nashville 
Dec.  15,  1864). 

The  Eighty-second  contained  the  name  of  Albert  B. 
Mansfield  who  was  one  of  Crawford  County's  noble  young 
men.  He  enlisted  at  Camp  Noble  on  the  14th  day  of 
August,  1862,  and  was  mustered  into  the  United  States 
Army  on  August  29,  1862,  at  the  age  of  22.  He  was  the 
son  of  Will  Mansfield  of  Leavenworth,  who  was  a  Southern 
sympathizer.  James  Mansfield  and  Charles  Mansfield  had 
already  volunteered.  On  this  occasion  old  Mansfield  came 
out  when  he  saw  that  Albert  had  enlisted  and  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  said  that  he  had  been  for  the  South, 
but  now  he  could  not  support  the  South  when  all  his  sons 
were  fighting  under  the  old  flag. 

Albert  Mansfield  was  engaged  to  Almarinda  Peabody 
at  the  time.     His  leaving  was  a  sad  affair.     After  being 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  245 

in  the  army  a  few  months  he  was  killed  at  Stone  River 
December  31,  1862.  Miss  Peabody  remained  true  to  her 
first  love.  The  body  was  brought  back  to  Leavenworth 
and  buried  in  Cedar  cemetery.  On  his  headstone  one  may 
read:  A.  J.  Mansfield,  born  Jan.  2,  1840.  Died  Jan.  1, 
1863,  of  wounds  received  at  Stone  River — A  sergeant  in 
the  United  States  Army,  Company  H,  81st  Infantry. 

The  Eighty-third  Indiana  Volunteers  contained  the 
names  of  Sullivan  Smith,  Isaac  Troder,  John  Lare,  Ben  F. 
Miller. 

The  Eighty-fifth  contained  Abner  Beard,  David  Fisher, 
John  Parks  (deserted  Feb.  2,  1863),  James  N.  Parks  (de- 
serted Feb.  2,  1863),  Isaac  Montgomery  (died  at  Chatta- 
nooga Jan.  17,  1863). 

The  Ninetieth  Regiment  of  Indiana  Volunteers  con- 
tained David  Hunt  and  Sylvester  Hunt,  both  of  whom 
deserted  November  20,  1862. 

The  Ninety-first  contained  one  man,  Cyprian  Bennett. 

The  Ninety-third  contained  Louis  McKey,  Sam  Mor- 
gan, Theopolis  Spurlock. 

The  101st  contained  one  man,  William  Oliver. 

The  131st  contained  these  men :  Thomas  Goodson, 
Joseph  Weathers,  William  Walts,  Champress  Sooge,  The- 
apilius  Key,  David  R.  Stewart,  Albert  J.  Weathers,  Louis 
Beers,  Elias  Bench,  Robert  Bechtol,  Pilgrim  Crecelius  (de- 
serted Oct.  30,  1864),  Ali  Courtner,  John  J.  Duke,  Ed- 
mund Enlow,  North  Goodson,  John  Haughton,  Jacob  Holly, 
Thomas  Lawler,  Thomas  Moody,  Sam  Morgan,  John  T. 
Neely  (drowned  in  the  Ohio  River  Feb.  28,  1864),  Albert 
Patrick,    Biven   Powers,    Joshua    Sisson,   Joseph    Speedy, 


246         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Marquis  Walts,  William  Boss,  Henry  Lambdin,  Caleb 
Morgan,  Sam  Sherron,  Henry  Thompson,  John  Walts. 

The  140th  had  these  men :  Thomas  Hayne,  Ulysses  P. 
Murphy,  William  Shields  (died  at  Indianapolis  Feb.  25, 
1865),  Harry  Smith,  Sam  Smith,  William  Stevens,  Ran- 
som Sinclair  (died  at  Indianapolis  March  9,  1865),  David 
Sinclair  (died  at  Stevens  Station,  Va.,  June  2,  1865),  John 
Stewart,  Elijah  Surgeon,  Peter  Snider,  John  W.  Straughn, 
Ali  Turner,  James  Winn,  William  Winn,  William  Wright, 
Johnson  Wilson,  Greenbury  Wright  (died  at  Cumberland, 
Maryland,  June  2,  1865),  James  M.  Weathers,  William 
Wiseman,  Abraham  Wiseman  (died  at  Indianapolis  March 
7,  1865),  Nelson  Wilburn,  Harvey  Wilburn,  William  H. 
Weathers,  Jasper  Wright,  Joseph  Bee,  Joseph  Legert. 

The  144th  Regiment  of  Indiana  Volunteers  had  these 
men :  John  Mather,  Thomas  Roberts,  William  Daniels, 
William  Riggle,  English  Vance,  Gilbert  Abell,  John  Cun- 
ningham, Peter  Dillman,  George  Mcintosh,  James  Straighn, 
Ira  Scott,  John  Williams,  Joseph  Bird,  Robert  Sloan, 
Paris  Wood,  John  E.  Weathers,  James  Haynes,  James 
Anderson,  Martin  H.  Batman,  Joseph  Briggs  (deserted 
June  22,  1865),  Robert  Bell,  James  E.  Brown,  A.  J.  Bat- 
man, John  Bullington,  William  H.  Brown,  John  II.  Cox, 
William  Cunningham,  John  Carroll,  Theodore  Conrad, 
Joseph  Coleman  (died  at  Indianapolis  March  8,  1865), 
Joseph  Denbo  (died  at  home  March  9,  1865),  George  Dill- 
man,  John  Denbo,  William  Edwards,  Jacob  East,  William 
Flannigan,  Thomas  C.  Goodson,  Theodore  Grant,  Ed 
Goodson,  John  Graham,  Peter  Goldman,  Adam  Gilliland, 
Jonas  Handspire,  Craig  Hughes,  James  W.  Jenkins,  Will- 
iam W.  Jones,  George  W.  Landrus,  Martin  Lynch,  James 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  247 

Longest,  John  Lone,  F.  F.  Mayfield,  John  W.  Landers, 
John  McCortney,  Theodore  Merritt,  Robert  Mills,  Charles 
Mathew,  Simon  Newkirk,  Benjamin  Newkirk,  John  Patrick, 
Pinkney  Poe,  Calvin  Pleasant,  Thomas  Railes,  Adam 
Roach,  Sam  Roberson,  John  Riley,  Julius  Rathrack  (died 
at  Indianapolis  March  7,  1865),  James  Sheckels,  Eli  Stur- 
geon, Casper  Kehrer,  John  Anderson,  John  T.  Byerly, 
John  W.  Cosby,  Isom  Denton  (died  at  Indianapolis  Feb. 
22,  1865),  Leonard  Duke,  George  Dunkin,  Perry  Evans, 
Andrew  Gilpatrick,  Robert  Gilbert,  John  Gilbert  (died  at 
Indianapolis  March  14,  1865),  Peter  Gottfried,  Augustus 
Gray,  Teazley  Hudson,  Davis  Judd,  James  Morris,  James 
Mix,  Adolphus  Odle,  Eugene  Peabody,  Sam  Pickard,  Dave 
Tadlock,  Dekalb  Blalock,  Henry  Barton,  Mathias  Harper, 
Hamilton  Miller. 

The  Independent  Cavalry  Company  was  organized  to 
protect  the  border  and  watch  the  river  front.  It  contained 
these  men:  William  Clendening,  Richard  Weathers,  Will- 
iam Dotson,  Robert  Sands,  Henry  Breeden,  Victor  Froman, 
Allen  B.  Tucker,  John  McCutcheon,  Henry  Rothrock,  Bill 
Waldon,  Jim  Mansfield,  Henry  Ross,  John  Caldwell, 
George  Wall,  John  McDonald,  Martin  Goldman,  Abel  R. 
Breeden,  William  Morris,  John  Mcintosh,  Albert  Land, 
Gilbert  Abel,  John  Andrews,  Marion  Archibald,  James 
Armstrong,  ViUiam  Austin,  George  Balthis,  James  L. 
Brown,  Dave  Breeden,  William  Briles,  Calvin  Breeden, 
William  Breeden,  Alex  Byerly,  John  Byerly,  John  Bell, 
Wiley  Cole,  Valentine  Cole,  Henry  Collins,  Peter  Curl, 
Ephraem  Elliott,  George  Epperson,  Chris  Epperson,  John 
Forbes,  William  Froman,  Francis  Froman,  Joseph  Glosson, 
Alfred   Glosson,   John   Gilliland,   Addison   Gilliland,   An- 


248  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

drew  Goldman,  Craig  Hughes,  William  Jenner,  William 
Judd  (rejected),  George  Hendricks,  Mark  Kendall,  John 
Knott,  James  Laswell,  Eldorado  Lyons,  Tom  Lynch,  John 
Lincey  (died  at  New  Albany  March  4,  1864),  Fielding 
Martin,  James  Merritt,  James  Mix,  Manford  Miller,  John 
Montz,  Francis  Nash,  Adolphus  Odle,  Elias  Patrick,  Dun- 
bar Patrick,  John  N.  Pleasant,  William  Purcell,  Henry 
Riggle,  William  Redden,  Theodore  Roberts,  Edmund  Rob- 
inson (died  at  New  Albany  March  5,  1864),  John  Root, 
Gilbert  Shaw,  Morrison  Scott,  James  Schrigley,  Jesse  Sat- 
terfield,  Adelbert  Smith,  William  Todd,  John  Tucker,  Har- 
rison Tucker,  John  Vance,  William  Vandergrist,  Robert 
Walls,  William  Walts,  Levi  Wiser,  John  R.  Wilson,  Will- 
iam Wilson,  Milton  Woolums,  Francis  Weathers. 

The  above  list  of  men  is  not  complete  in  any  sense. 

The  following  article  by  Temple  H.  Dunn  is  submitted 
here:  "I  am  a  Crawford  County  soldier.  I  enlisted  at 
my  home  town  Alton,  and  along  with  the  rest  of  my  com- 
pany boarded  the  Gray  Eagle  at  Alton,  Sunday,  November 
3,  1861.  The  next  morning  before  breakfast  I  was  sworn 
into  the  United  States  service  at  Camp  Noble,  near  Jeffer- 
sonville,  when  I  was  fifteen  years,  eighteen  months  and 
twenty-seven  days  old.  From  there  we  marched  to  assist 
other  regiments  before  the  frowning  fortress  of  Cumber- 
land Gap.  To  locate  this  great  mountain  gateway  I 
climbed  the  northern  one  of  the  two  great  mountains  be- 
tween which  the  "Gap"  lies  and  well  up  the  southeastern 
slope  I  found  a  large  granite  pillar,  around  which  I  walked 
with  my  left  hand  on  the  stone.  In  this  movement  I  was 
firs);  on  the  soil  of  Kentucky  and  of  Tennessee,  and  then  of 
old  Virginia,  then  of  Kentucky  again.     That  was  a  proud 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  249 

movement  for  a  boy  who  in  all  his  travel  had  just  made 
two  trips  of  nine  miles  each,  one  up  the  Ohio  River 
and  one  down  the  river.  Let  me  state  here  that  no 
one  was  ever  prouder  of  being  accepted  a  soldier  of 
the  United  States  than  I  was  at  that  time.  Nor  did 
I  ever  regret  when  hardships  came.  We  approached 
too  near  the  enemy's  works  at  the  Gap  and  drew  the 
artillery  fire  from  the  batteries  which  got  upon  our  nerves 
so  that  we  made  a  double  quick  movement  to  the  rear.  The 
enemy  was  far  out  of  range  of  our  small  guns  and  we  were 
soon  out  of  range  of  their  large  guns.  If  there  was  any 
laughing  done  it  was  inside  of  this  stone  fortification.  Of 
course,  we  had  many  a  laugh  about  it  afterward.  We 
took  Cumberland  with  a  rear  movement,  striking  the  enemy 
from  the  south  through  another  gap.  Later,  when  Bragg 
and  Kirby  Smith  invaded  Kentucky,  from  the  south,  they 
cut  off  our  supplies  and  we  had  to  abandon  the  Gap  and 
march  northward,  striking  the  Ohio  River  about  150  miles 
above  Cincinnati.  General  John  Morgan  had  followed  us 
across  the  mountain  roads  but  he  did  not  try  to  attack  us. 
His  services  to  the  South  were  not  in  the  battle  line.  We 
moved  to  Oak  Hill,  Ohio,  where  we  were  furnished  with 
clothes  and  marched  up  the  Kanawha  River.  Recalled  we 
boarded  steamers  at  Point  Pleasant  for  Cincinnati  and 
thence  to  Memphis,  thence  to  Vicksburg.  Sherman  and 
Grant  were  planning  an  attack  on  Vicksburg.  Sherman, 
by  transports,  went  up  the  Lagos  River  twelve  miles  and 
attacked  AValnut  Bluff  section  of  the  Vicksburg  fortifica- 
tions and  Grant  by  land  intended  to  strike  Vicksburg  in  the 
rear.  The  Confederates  succeeded  in  cutting  Grant's  line 
of  supplies  which  stopped  his  movement  southward.    Sher- 


250         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

man  with  two  thousand  men  made  his  attack  but  was  not 
able  to  bring  over  a  fourth  of  his  men  into  action  on  ac- 
count of  the  ground,  and  his  attempt  to  carry  the  enemy's 
works  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  was  a  disastrous  failure. 
Sherman  hardly  succeeded  in  getting  his  men  on  the 
transports  and  away.  Had  the  Confederates  known  this 
in  advance  he  might  not  have  done  so.  It  was  our  first 
great  battle  and  we  were  not  successful.  We  ascended 
the  Arkansas  River  to  Fort  Hindman,  also  called  Arkansas 
Post.  Commodore  Porter's  fleet  accompanied  us.  The 
fleet  and  army  made  the  attack.  The  enemy  answered  with 
hundred  and  twenty-pounders  which  our  fleets  soon 
silenced.  Then  our  men  charged  the  works  and  carried; 
we  needed  the  inspiration  of  a  great  victory.  We  leveled 
the  fort  to  the  ground  and  then  returned  to  the  Missis- 
sippi. Among  the  prisoners  taken  was  a  fine  Kentucky 
boy,  John  Riddle,  whom  I  had  known  all  my  life.  He 
lived  in  Kentucky,  just  in  sight  of  Alton.  He  was  sent 
to  Camp  Chase  which  was  at  Cincinnati,  a  camp  for  cap- 
tured Confederates.  While  he  was  there,  a  cousin  of  mine, 
who  had  married  his  sister,  went  to  the  camp  and  pleaded 
with  him  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  return  to 
Kentucky.  He  dismissed  the  appeal  with  scorn  and  re- 
turned to  the  rebel  army  when  exchanged,  and  was  killed 
in  battle.  Dick  Riddle,  his  father,  was  captured  in  the 
same  battle.  Then  came  Grant's  campaign  against  Vicks- 
burg  and  its  fall.  My  regiment  was  through  it  all  till  the 
surrender,  which  was  the  greatest  surrender  made  in 
America.  Grant  assembled  his  army  at  Milliken's  Bend, 
above  Vicksburg.  Our  corps,  the  Thirteenth,  led  the  way 
southward  along  the  bayous,  building  bridges  and  repair- 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  251 

ing  roads  which  the  enemy  had  destroyed  on  their  retreat, 
and  came  to  the  river  again  at  Carthage,  twenty  miles  be- 
low Vicksburg.  Gunboats  and  transports  landed  supplies 
for  us  at  Grand  Gulf  which  was  heavily  fortified.  Com- 
modore Porter's  fleet  tried  to  silence  the  enemy's  guns. 
We  witnessed  the  battle  between  the  forts  and  the  fleet. 
We  were  on  the  barges  ready  to  steam  on  down  as  soon  as 
the  forts  were  silenced,  but  our  fleet  ran  the  blockade  that 
night  amid  a  tremendous  fire  from  the  fort.  The  next 
morning  we  descended  the  river  to  Brownsburg,  where  we 
landed  and  marched  inland  toward  Fort  Gibson  until  two 
o'clock  that  night,  when  a  cannonade  from  the  enemy  an- 
nounced that  we  wTere  discovered.  Our  battery  answered 
the  attack.  We  lay  down  on  our  arms  till  daybreak  came, 
when  the  battle  was  resumed  between  the  batteries.  The 
infantry  was  soon  engaged,  too.  The  battle  lasted  till  late 
in  the  afternoon,  when  the  enemy  was  routed.  This  is 
known  in  history  as  the  battle  of  Fort  Gibson.  We  made 
a  charge  in  the  afternoon,  my  regiment  running  over  the 
batteries,  which  made  us  halt  at  two  o'clock  that  morning. 
They  were  wrecked  beyond  description.  Dead  men,  dead 
horses,  splintered  guns,  cannons  dismounted,  all  made  a 
picture  never  to  be  forgotten.  A  rebel  newspaper  fell  into 
my  hands  afterward  which  gave  this  battery's  casualties. 
The  account  was  appalling.  Farther  on  in  our  charge  men 
from  the  famous  Eighth  Missouri  Confederates  came 
throwing  down  their  rifles  furiously  on  the  ground  and 
swearing  that  he  ...  so  and  so  if  it  was  not  the  first 
time  they  had  to  do  it.  They  were  beaten  and  surrendered 
as  prisoners  of  war.  Our  commander,  General  Ostrehaus, 
was  filled  with  joy.     In  broken  English  he  shouted  out: 


252         HISTORY  OP  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

' '  Three  cheers  for  the  Forty-nintli !  She  is  a  bully  regi- 
ment. Three  cheers  for  all  the  Indiana  soldiers!"  At 
the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  Germany  and  lived  until 
recently.  He  was  always  a  friend  of  America.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  battles  of  Raymond,  Jackson,  Champion  Hills, 
Black  River,  all  of  which  we  won.  General  Pemberton  now 
retreated  to  Vicksburg  and  Grant  lay  siege  to  him.  On 
the  evening  of  the  19th  we  were  upon  them  again.  On 
the  22nd  we  charged  them  with  our  entire  army  but  they 
beat  us  back.  So  our  army  settled  down  to  a  regular  siege 
which  lasted  nearly  seven  weeks,  when  Pemberton  sur- 
rendered, as  mentioned  above,  with  31,600  prisoners  and 
60,000  stands  of  arms,  on  July  4,  1863.  We  were  then 
transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  Gulf  and  sent  to  New 
Orleans.  Thence  westward  to  the  Vermillion  Bay  region, 
thence  back  to  New  Orleans,  thence  by  steamship  across 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Matagordo  Bay,  Texas.  My  regi- 
ment spent  several  weeks  at  Decrow's  Point,  a  sandy  strip 
of  land  between  the  Bay  and  the  Gulf.  Later  we  crossed 
the  Bay  and  encamped  in  the  town  of  Matagordo.  Here 
I  was  detailed  in  charge  of  a  small  pleasure  boat,  a  cap- 
tured copper  bottom  sloop,  to  carry  dispatches  between 
Matagordo  Bay  and  Decroy's  Point.  A  young  sailor  was 
an  expert  skipper  and  we  made  the  fifteen-mile  trip  daily. 
It  was  a  pleasant  diversion  from  the  regular  duty.  The 
point  where  LaSalle  was  killed  is  only  a  few  miles  from 
Decrow's  Point. 

While  my  regiment  was  at  Cumberland  Gap  a  party  of 
us  was  sent  out  to  drive  the  rebels  away.  My  group  stopped 
at  a  certain  rail  fence.  I  knew  a  blockhouse  was  on  the 
other  side   of  the  field.     Suddenly   I   saw  two   Tennessee 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  253 

soldiers  leap  the  fenee  and  enter  the  corn.  Not  to  be  out- 
done I  leaped  over  the  fence  and  went  running  after  them. 
What  a  noise  we  made  running  through  the  corn.  When 
I  came  out  of  the  corn  there  stood  the  picket's  house  but 
the  rebels  had  fled.  I  ran  into  the  house  and  picked  up 
two  new  guns  and  a  cartridge  box  bearing  the  stamp, 
"Made  in  England."  This  was  the  first  capture  made  by 
the  Forty-ninth  during  the  war.  My  guns  were  taken 
from  me,  but  they  failed  to  see  the  box  which  I  carried 
through  most  of  the  war. 

When  we  were  about  fifty  miles  out  of  Louisville  I  cut 
my  name  on  the  gun-stock,  the  letters  being  probably  one 
inch  long.  Comrades  said  to  me:  "Will  that  not  get  you 
into  trouble  ? "  I  was  alarmed ;  I  never  had  thought  about 
getting  into  trouble,  so  I  was  in  constant  fear  for  several 
weeks  till  one  morning  matters  came  to  a  crisis.  A  num- 
ber of  us  were  in  the  tent.  I  had  not  arisen  yet  when 
the  Captain  came  and  pushed  the  tent  curtain  aside  and 
asked  if  Dunn  was  there.  Being  informed  that  I  was,  he 
said  that  the  Colonel  wanted  to  see  me.  I  never  was  so 
scared  in  all  my  life.  A  comrade  asked  the  Captain  what 
he  wanted  with  Dunn  and  he  answered  that  it  was  about 
something  concerning  that  gun.  I  never  knew  how  I 
dressed.  When  I  arrived  at  the  headquarters  the  Colonel 
was  gone  and  I  had  to  wait  in  anxiety  until  he  returned; 
then  I  walked  up,  saluted  him  and  said :  ' '  Captain  John- 
son asked  me  to  report."  The  Colonel  turned  with  a 
smile  and  said:  "So  you  are  Dunn,  are  you?  I  have 
been  informed  that  you  are  quite  good  at  making  letters. 
I  have  a  very  interesting  piece  of  work  which  I  want  you 
to  do.    You  will  like  it  and  it  will  give  you  a  chance  to  get 


254         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

acquainted  with  all  the  men  in  the  company  and  regiment. 
I  want  you  and  Ed  Jordan  of  Company  E  to  paint  on  each 
tent  in  the  regiment  the  number  of  the  mess  of  the  com- 
pany and  the  regiment.  When  that  is  done  I  want  you  to 
paint  the  number,  company  and  regiment  on  each  man's 
haversack."  We  liked  the  job.  Nothing  was  said  about 
the  gun. 

When  my  time  of  service  was  out  on  the  eve  of  our 
departure  we  were  given  the  choice  of  coming  back  by  the 
Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers  or  coming  by  water  around  to 
New  York.  Only  a  few  chose  to  come  by  the  rivers.  We 
boarded  the  steamer  at  New  Orleans,  steamed  out  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  anchored  off  of  Fort  Morgan  at 
the  entrance  of  Mobile  Bay,  grounded  at  Key  West,  then 
we  rounded  the  Peninsula  of  Florida  and  later  entered 
New  York  harbor.  We  landed  on  the  Jersey  City  side 
and  entrained  there.  We  rode  many  miles  along  the  Erie 
Canal,  thence  to  Cleveland,  Columbus  and  Indianapolis. 
Here  we  were  mustered  out  and,  dressed  in  civilian  clothes, 
I  was  soon  at  my  home  in  Alton  knocking  on  the  door  at 
two  a.  m.,  December,  1864.  In  the  following  February  I 
was  nineteen  years  old. 

In  connection  with  Dunn's  experience  one  may  relate 
an  experience  which  happened  while  the  Forty-ninth  was 
at  Cumberland  Gap.  The  boys  one  day  went  up  on  the 
mountainside  to  hunt  pawpaws.  They  crept  up  carefully 
till  they  reached  the  very  top  of  the  ridge.  The}^  could 
see  the  rebels  about  a  mile  away  down  on  the  other  side 
of  the  mountain.  They  sat  there  and  watched  them  for  a 
while.  Then  they  started  down  the  side  to  their  tents  and 
camps.     When  they  were  about  half  way  down  the  side 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  255 

the  rebels  suddenly  fired  upon  them  from  the  rear.  Hardin 
McCullum  of  Fredonia  was  shot  through  the  chest.  The 
boys  strapped  him  to  an  old  rail  and  carried  him  down 
the  side  of  the  mountain.  He  died  there  and  the  boys 
buried  him.  They  set  up  a  rock  with  his  name  upon  it. 
After  the  Union  men  had  been  run  away  from  their  camp 
the  southern  men  held  it  awhile.  When  the  Union  men 
recaptured  the  Gap  their  well  was  filled  up.  They  cleaned 
out  the  well  and  near  the  bottom  they  found  the  headstone 
of  Hardin  McCullum 's  grave.  To  me  it  seems  strange  that 
the  southern  men  would  even  destroy  markers  and  conceal 
the  graves  of  the  Union  men. 

No  account  of  the  history  of  Crawford  County  would  be 
complete  without  an  account  of  the  sinister  element  left 
behind.  True  it  is  that  Crawford  County  had  1,119  men 
enrolled  and  868  went;  Martin  County  had  1,008  men  en- 
rolled and  821  went;  Greene  County  had  1,867  men  en- 
rolled and  1,432  went.  Their  relative  per  cents,  are  very 
close,  but  proportional  to  the  number  of  people  Crawford 
County  sent  more  men.  Boone  township  furnished  all  the 
men  asked  for,  hence  no  draft  went  to  Boone  township. 

The  following  account  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden 
Circle  is  submitted  here.  Much  study  and  hard  work  has 
been  done  to  secure  the  information.  No  one  can  give  the 
facts  in  the  case  any  better  than  Governor  Morton.  He 
said  that  the  country  was  honey-combed  through  and 
through  by  treason.  The  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle 
started  in  1855  by  Charles  C.  Bricksley,  a  native  of  Boone 
County,  Indiana,  then  living  in  the  South.  He  espoused 
the  cause  of  slavery  with  all  his  heart.    The  divisions  were 


256         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

called  Castles.  No  one  would  admit  lie  was  a  member 
except  to   a  brother  Knight. 

The  main  purpose  was  to  conquer  Mexico  and  put  a 
capital  at  Monterey,  but  before  the  men  could  get  the  mat- 
ter under  way  the  Civil  War  began  and  the  Knights  turned 
their  attention  to  home  affairs,  Just  why  they  were  called 
Knights  one  can  not  tell,  for  they  were  not  what  one  now- 
adays thinks  a  Knight  should  be.  Neither  was  the  Circle 
golden. 

The  Knights  used  their  influence  to  separate  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  in  1860.  They  thought  that  would  be  better 
for  their  plans.  One  letter  from  Madison,  Indiana,  to  a 
Castle  in  Kentucky  promised  1,000  members  to  fight  for 
the  South.  Other  letters  promised  the  South  aid  in  case 
of  war.  A  letter  written  from  Washington  stated  that 
30,000  would  never  compromise  with  the  Black  Repub- 
licans and  that  probably  all  Indiana  south  of  the  National 
road  would  join  in  with  the  South.  The  order  grew  tre- 
mendously during  1862  and  1863.  Castles  were  formed  in 
barns,  cellars,  garrets  and  most  anywhere.  Orange  and 
Washington  Counties  were  favorable  to  the  growth  of  the 
order.  Doctor  William  A.  Bowles,  who  lived  at  West 
Baden  and  French  Lick,  married  a  southern  girl.  He 
wrote  to  her  in  Louisiana,  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter, 
and  stated  that  he  feared  the  Douglass  wing  would  join 
the  "Black  Republicans."  If  so,  he  says,  our  fate  is  sealed. 
Kentucky  will  go  out  but  too  late  to  help  our  cause  very 
much;  if  Kentucky  had  gone  out  at  first  then  southern 
Indiana  would  have  joined  the  South. 

On  May  3,  1861,  he  wrote  again:  "If  things  do  not 
change  we  shall  have  fighting  here  in  our  midst,  for  many 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  257 

persons  are  coming  out  for  the  Union  and  calling  all  others 
traitors  who  do  not  espouse  the  cause.  God  knows  what  I 
am  to  do.  If  I  leave  and  join  the  South  my  property 
will  be  lost.  Besides,  my  health  is  poor,  as  I  am  of  little  help 
in  the  field.  I  have  already  sent  some  who  will  do  some 
good  service."  Later  he  became  discouraged  with  Ken- 
tucky and  wrote:  "Louisville  is  in  a  perfect  turmoil. 
The  abolition  spirit  is  very  strong  here.  I  heard  a  battle 
had  been  fought  at  Fortress  Monroe  and  600  abolitionists 
have  been  killed  and  fifty  southerners,  but  it  is  too  good 
to  be  true.  When  the  fighting  begins  I  shall  go  south.1 ' 
But  he  did  not  go  south  but  stayed  to  stir  up  trouble  here 
at  home. 

By  1862  there  were  signals  given  so  that  the  rebels 
might  recognize  a  drafted  Knight  of  the  Golden  Circle 
and  not  hurt  him. 

They  had  pledged  to  resist  the  payment  of  Federal  tax, 
prevent  enlistment  and  encourage  deserters  and  help  them 
to  escape  from  the  army.  This  was  plainly  seen  because 
the  counties  did  not  respond  as  freely  as  before. 

Some  members  of  the  grand  jury  went  to  Camp  Morton 
and  tested  the  rebels  on  the  secret  signs — those  that  had 
been  captured  in  the  South  and  sent  north  as  prisoners 
of  war.  The  captured  rebels  recognized  the  signs  which 
the  grand  jury  gave  them. 

By  December,  1862,  it  was  introduced  into  Camp  Mor- 
ton at  Indianapolis.  The  man  who  disclosed  the  infor- 
mation disappeared  suddenly  and  no  one  ever  heard  of  him 
again. 

A  series  of  resolutions,  passed  by  the  counties  of  Shelby, 
Bartholomew,    Putnam,    Jackson,    Rush,    DeKalb,    Scott, 


258  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Starke,  Lawrence,  Martin,  and  many  others,  opposed  the 
war. 

It  was  reported  that  a  general  uprising  was  to  occur, 
in  which  the  Knights  were  to  seize  the  state  government 
and  put  Governor  Morton  out  of  the  way  and  run  things 
to  suit  themselves.  One  night  Morton  left  the  office  late 
at  night  by  the  Market  Street  door.  As  he  was  descending 
the  steps  someone  fired  at  him  from  an  outhouse  near-by. 
The  ball  whistled  past  his  head.  He  went  to  the  Bates 
House  and  aroused  General  Carrington.  No  mention  was 
ever  made  of  the  act  except  to  Sulgrave.  No  clew  was 
ever  found  to  the  man  guilty  of  the  cowardly  act. 

Out  over  the  state  the  Castles  did  their  best  to  prevent 
enrollment.  Old  Judge  Constable  of  Clark  County,  Illi- 
nois, caught  several  Indiana  soldiers  who  were  out  hunting 
deserters.  He  threw  them  in  jail  but  Governor  Morton 
sent  a  body  of  men  who  surrounded  the  court  house  and 
set  the  men  free  and  brought  the  old  rebel-hearted  judge 
to  Indianapolis.     But  he  was  soon  set  free. 

Early  in  August,  1864,  one  hundred  and  ten  copies  of 
the  ritual  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle  were  cap- 
tured in  a  room  adjacent  to  the  law  office  of  Daniel  Voor- 
hees.  When  it  became  known,  Voorhees  demanded  an 
apology  from  General  Carrington  and  said  that  he  had  had 
no  office  in  Terre  Haute  for  over  a  year  and  did  not  know 
anything  about  the  books  and  papers.  General  Carrington 
replied  :  ' '  The  gentleman  who  found  these  papers  told  me 
that  they  were  found  in  your  office.  The  following  are 
some  of  the  things  which  lead  me  to  think  that  it  was  your 
office.  Your  law  books  and  furniture  were  still  there  in  the 
office  with  these  papers.     You  had  declined  the  nomina- 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  259 

tion  for  Congress  and  the  office  was  not  for  rent  as  late  as 
1864,  in  April.  The  rituals  were  issued  in  the  fall  of  1863. 
Your  records  were  in  the  office,  your  speeches  up  to  March 
of  your  entire  congressional  records.  The  letters  of  Sen- 
ator Wall  of  New  Jersey  promising  to  furnish  you  20,000 
stands  of  Garfield  rifles  were  in  the  room  with  these  papers. 

"The  letters  of  Vallandigham  from  Windsor,  C.  W., 
assuring  you  that  our  people  will  fight  and  that  all  is  ready, 
and  fixing  a  point  of  the  Lima  road  at  which  he  would 
meet  you,  were  in  the  office  with  these  books. 

"Letters  from  Joseph  Ristine,  auditor  of  Indiana,  wish- 
ing you  success  to  the  South  and  Democracy,  were  in  the 
office  where  these  papers  were  found." 

Voorhees  replied  on  August  26,  1864 :  "I  was  nearly  one 
thousand  miles  away.  Political  enemy  was  in  possession 
of  my  desk  and  drawers  and  all  you  had  to  do  was  to 
apply  the  burglar's  art,  prepare  a  false  key  and  pick  my 
locks,  and  you  had  access  to  my  private  correspondence, 
embracing  a  period  of  seven  years.  I  have  every  reason 
to  believe  that  you  read  it  all.  You  took  your  time,  a  furtive 
thieving  magpie,  carefully  scanning  each  word  to  see  if 
you  could  find  some  expression  which  you  could  note." 

Carrington  answered:  "Yet  they  were  in  the  office 
where  these  papers  were  found.  Grave  offense.  As  well 
might  a  thief  find  fault  that  the  stolen  goods  were  found 
in  his  possession.  The  burglar  might  complain  as  well  that 
the  tools  of  his  craft." 

The  information  which  led  to  the  capture  of  the  Sunday 
school  books  was  sent  from  New  York  by  an  unknown 
person : 


260  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

New  York,  N.  Y., 

July  17,  1864. 
Sir:— 

The  facts  here  stated  have  come  to  my  mind  in  such  a 
manner  and  in  such  a  source  as  to  leave  no  doubt  in  my 
mind  of  their  responsibility.  The  "Copperheads"  of  Indi- 
ana have  ordered  and  paid  for  30,000  revolvers  and  forty- 
two  boxes  of  fixed  ammunition  to  be  distributed  among 
them  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  election  of  the 
President.  August  5  they  were  put  on  Granite  State  and 
sent  to  J.  J.  Parsons  via  Merchant's  Dispatch  and  marked 

Sunday  school  books.     The  balance  is  stored  at  No. 

St.,  New  York,  awaiting  shipment  and  pay  from  the  ' '  Cop- 
perheads" of  Indiana. 

Governor  Morton  put  the  information  in  the  hands 
of  the  Indianapolis  police.  They  searched  the  station 
carefully  but  found  nothing.  On  leaving  the  station  they 
met  a  drayman  coming  back  to  the  station.  He  was  ques- 
tioned about  what  he  had  hauled.  He  said  that  he  had 
hauled  several  boxes  of  Sunday  school  books  to  the  office 
of  H.  H.  Dodd  and  Co.  A  detail  of  soldiers  were  sent  to 
Dodd's  office  where  four  hundred  navy  revolvers  and 
135,000  rounds  of  shells  were  found  in  the  boxes  marked 
' '  Sunday  School  Books. ' ' 

The  great  uprising  was  to  occur  in  the  late  summer  or 
fall  of  1864.  William  A.  Bowles  and  Dodd  were  the  big 
men  in  Indiana,  while  Vallandigham  was  at  the  head  of 
the  entire  government.  They  were  to  seize  the  camp  where 
the  rebel  prisoners  were  and  liberate  them  and  arm  them, 
kill  Governor  Morton  and  run  the  state  government  to  suit 
themselves. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  261 

William  M.  Harrison  states  that  the  sign  of  recognition 
was  made  by  standing-  with  the  heel  of  the  right  foot  to 
the  hollow  of  the  left.  If  a  member  saw  you  he  stood  the 
same  way  and  extended  his  foot  to  meet  the  first  one. 
The  first  one  said:  "Nu,"  the  second  said,  "Oh,"  then 
the  first  said  "Lac,"  the  second  replied,  "S, "  the  first  said 
"L, "  the  second  replied,  "Give  me  Liberty,"  the  first 
said,  "Or  give  me  death."  The  distress  sign  was  made  by 
putting  the  left  hand  on  the  right  breast  and  raising  the 
right  one  directly  in  front  to  its  full  height,  as  one  cried 
"Calhoun"  three  times,  wait  a  minute,  then  cry  three 
times  again. 

The  flag  was  a  white  one  surrounded  with  a  red  ribbon 
and  with  red  ribbons  hanging  down.  If  hung  out  the 
K.  G.  C.  would  not  harm  your  property.  Anyhow,  when 
Hines  and  Morgan  came  along,  his  property  would  not  be 
damaged. 

Doctor  William  Bowles  and  others  had  discovered  a 
substance  which  they  called  "Greek  fire."  There  were 
queer  bombs  made  of  such  material  which  left  for  a  while 
would  explode.  The  Government  boats  at  Louisville  were 
destroyed  by  these  bombs. 

The  troops  at  the  general  uprising  were  to  gather  about 
eight  or  ten  miles  from  New  Albany. 

But  the  state  government  was  kept  in  touch  with  all 
their  moves.  Morton's  spies  were  busy  day  and  night.  One 
of  the  best  was  a  man  named  Coffin.  He  was  not  suspected 
till  1864.  Then  a  meeting  was  held  in  Doctor  Kalfur's 
office  in  Louisville,  at  which  it  was  agreed  that  Coffin  must 
be  put  out  of  the  way.  Felix  Stidger,  who  took  the  report 
of  the  meeting  to  Doctor  Bowles  said  that  he  ought  to  kill 


262  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Coffin  himself,  for  Bowles  found  him  and  took  him  to  the 
Castle  and  gave  him  the  obligation.  Bowles  said  that  he 
would  put  some  one  after  Coffin.  The  whole  joke  in  the 
matter  was  that  Felix  Stidger  was  a  Morton  spy  himself 
and  was  telling  Coffin  what  was  happening  all  the  time. 

Henry  M.  Zumro  was  a  good  spy,  but  being  suspected 
by  the  Knights,  Morton  planned  to  have  him  arrested  and 
his  house  raided.  On  trial  he  was  acquitted  for  lack  of 
evidence.  Of  course,  after  this  he  was  reinstated  in  the 
good  graces  of  the  Knights. 

At  one  of  the  meetings  Doctor  William  Bowles  proposed 
a  company  of  armed  lancers  and  hooks  to  punch  the  horses 
of  the  Union  soldiers  and  cut  their  bridles.  Then  the 
horses  would  become  unmanagable. 

Just  how  many  Knights  were  in  Crawford  County  one 
can  not  say.  The  Castles  were  held  in  school  houses,  barns 
and  out  in  the  woods.  Matters  became  serious  as  the  war 
went  on.  Old  Bill  Mansfield  belonged  at  Leavenworth  and 
had  a  big  store  there.  He  was  a  friend  of  the  South.  His 
boys,  one  by  one,  went  into  the  Union  Army.  When  his 
last  son  volunteered  he  could  not  stand  it.  He  came  out 
into  the  street,  made  a  speech  for  the  Union,  and  cried. 
One  Castle  was  in  Bill  Williams'  barn.  The  town  of  Eng- 
lish had  one  Castle  and  one  also  up  at  Brownstown.  Zion 
Hollow  was  near  Brownstown.  There  was  a  great  number 
over  there.  There  was  a  noted  Union  man  at  English 
named  "Woods"  Cummins  and  one  loyal  man  in  Patoka 
named  Ed  Hall  Golden.  One  night  the  Knights  raided 
his  home.  His  poor  mother,  who  was  sick  in  bed,  was 
whipped  by  these  "gentlemanly"  Knights  to  make  her  tell 
where  his  money   was.     It  has   been   reported  that   Hall 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  263 

Golden  was  standing  outside  of  the  house  with  a  gun 
drawn  to  fire  in  case  they  hurt  his  mother  too  much.  The 
Knights  became  so  bad  that  late  in  the  fall  of  1864  a  com- 
pany of  men  came  out  from  Leavenworth,  and  assisted  by 
soldiers,  who  were  at  home,  from  Marengo  and  other  points, 
closed  in  on  the  Knights  at  English  and  Brownstown. 
There  were  a  large  number  of  them  caught.  A  preacher 
was  taken  in  the  net.  He  ran  down  the  side  of  the  hill 
and  was  about  to  escape  when  Richard  Pierson  and  one 
or  two  of  the  Fredonia  boys  caught  him.  They  were 
brought  back  to  English  and  guarded  in  a  barn  there  till 
means  of  conducting  them  to  Leavenworth  could  be  ob- 
tained. The  people  of  Leavenworth  did  not  want  the 
"sorry  crowd"  and  they  were  sent  to  Indianapolis. 

Leaving  the  Knights,  let  us  return  to  a  discussion  of 
Hines'  raid.  In  the  summer  of  1863  General  John  Morgan 
sent  Thomas  W.  Hines,  of  Bowling  Green,  Kentucky,  with 
a  company  of  horsemen  from  the  army  in  Tennessee  into 
Kentucky  with  orders  to  operate  against  the  Union  Army 
of  the  Cumberland  and  collect  horses  at  various  places 
through  which  Morgan  intended  to  pass  when  he  came 
north  in  his  grand  campaign.  After  much  time  and  with- 
out much  trouble  Hines  reached  the  bank  of  the  Ohio  River 
about  eighteen  miles  up  the  river  from  Camelton.  He 
looked  with  longing  eyes  on  the  smoky  hills  of  old  Perry 
County.  Assisted  by  southern  sympathizers,  with  two  old 
barges,  he  crossed  the  river,  which  at  that  time  was  very 
low.  Following  the  old  Rome  and  Fredonia  road,  he  moved 
northward  with  his  soldiers,  many  of  whom  were  spread 
out  over  the  country,  securing  all  the  good  horses  they 
could  find.     He  entered  Crawford  County  near  Alton  and 


264  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

camped  for  the  night  near  Jack  Parr's  Ford  on  Mill 
Creek,  where  he  captured  George  Waddle  and  kept  him 
over  night.  That  way  Waddle  did  not  have  a  chance  to 
spread  the  alarm. 

Breaking  the  camp  the  next  morning,  he  rode  toward 
Fredonia  with  his  men.  As  they  were  crossing  Little  Blue 
River  he  ordered  the  men  to  throw  Waddle's  gun  into 
that  deep  hole  of  water,  just  below  the  old  State  Ford. 
Waddle  must  have  been  very  angry,  but  what  could  he  do  ? 
The  company  arrived  at  Fredonia  about  eight  o'clock  that 
morning.  Here  they  stopped  and  ate  some  breakfast  at 
Esau  McFall's  hotel.  The  Fredonia  Home  Guards  had 
left  their  guns  in  William  H.  Conrad's  store.  A  few  of 
the  men  came  into  the  store,  and  seeing  the  guns  went 
out  and  told  Hines.  After  a  brief  consultation  in  the 
street  the  whole  group  of  them  rode  northward  on  the 
Marengo  road.  Just  out  of  Fredonia  they  saw  a  beautiful 
horse  owned  by  William  H.  Conrad.  Several  whistled  at 
him  but  could  not  catch  him.  Mr.  Miller,  who  lived  then 
where  Mr.  Sacksteder  lives  now,  lost  one  horse.  Just  over 
the  Indian  Hill  or  Ridge  they  stopped  and  talked  to  Jake 
Flock.  His  daughter  came  out  and  saw  him  giving  them 
food.  She  was  much  displeased  and  asked  her  father  why 
he  was  feeding  the  rebels.  One  man  spoke  up  and  said 
that  they  were  the  Home  Guards.  Then  he  recognized  the 
three  men  who  had  been  at  her  father's  house  a  few  days 
before  and  she  had  seen  them  making  curious  signs.  At 
the  old  Peabody  crossroads  Hines  stole  one  of  Rensselaer 
Peabody's  horses.  Peabody  followed  him  as  far  as  Valeene 
where  he  got  the  horse  back.  Hines  arrived  at  Marengo 
about  one  o'clock. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  265 

Captain  Enoch  Weathers,  who  lived  at  Marengo,  had 
been  given  a  commission  as  captain  by  a  Governor  before 
the  Civil  War,  yet  he  was  not  in  the  Civil  War.  His 
house  stood  near  the  Paoli  and  Leavenworth  roads.  That 
afternoon  Captain  Weathers  was  asleep  when  the  rebels 
rode  up  to  the  house.  A  few  of  them  called  out  for 
food.  James  H.  Weathers  went  out  and  saw  the  men.  He 
woke  up  Mr.  Weathers  who  went  out  and  the  men  asked 
him  what  he  had  to  give  the  soldiers  to  eat.  Captain 
Weathers  gave  them  what  food  was  available.  The  men 
claimed  that  they  were  Home  Guards  and  were  out  hunt- 
ing deserters. 

After  the  soldiers  rode  away  James  said  to  his  father: 
"Those  men  must  be  rebels."  The  father  asked  him  why 
he  thought  so.  And  he  said :  "Did  you  not  see  the  C.  S.  A. 
on  their  haversacks  or  breast-plates?"  Soon  Martin 
Stewart  and  John  Vanmeter  came  riding  up  the  road. 
Vanmeter,  who  had  been  in  the  United  States  Army,  con- 
firmed what  James  had  told  his  father.  Stewart  and  Van- 
meter were  ordered  to  follow  on  after  the  men  rapidly  to 
Valeene,  then  to  go  directly  to  the  New  Albany  and  Paoli 
pike  at  Trotter's  Crossing  and  then  to  Paoli.  These  men 
beat  Captain  Hines'  men  to  Paoli  in  time  to  arouse  the 
town  and  get  a  number  of  the  men  armed. 

When  Hines  arrived  at  Valeene  he  demanded  that  the 
women  cook  them  dinners,  so  tradition  has  it.  If  they  did 
not  get  dinner  he  would  burn  the  town.  One  can  not  say 
now  whether  Hines  got  much  dinner  or  not,  but  the  town 
was  not  burned.  But  he  wasted  considerable  time  there 
and  allowed  Stewart  and  Vanmeter,  who  sent  Waynick 
from  Valeene,  to  beat  him  to  Paoli. 


266  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

While  he  was  in  Marengo  tradition  has  it  that  Dave 
Miller,  who  was  a  "Butternut, "  went  up  to  him  and 
wanted  to  give  him  advice  but  he  rejected  the  proposal. 
He  told  Miller  that  if  Miller  was  a  friend  of  the  South 
that  he  ought  to  go  south  where  they  needed  all  their 
friends. 

When  Hines  came  to  the  top  of  that  high  hill  south  of 
Paoli  and  saw  the  crowd  of  excited  citizens  armed  around 
the  court  house  square  he  decided  that  he  had  better  go 
around  Paoli  to  the  west.  He  rode  east  again  and  turned 
south  about  Fredericksburg. 

Meanwhile,  Captain  Girdnor  of  the  Home  Guards  at 
Marengo  had  ordered  the  anvil  fired  three  times  and  the 
tocsin  rung,  which  was  a  signal  to  call  the  Home  Guards 
together. 

By  this  time  Hines  had  thrown  off  the  mask  and  was 
making  for  the  river.  Near  Fredericksburg  he  met  a  few 
men  and  a  fight  occurred  in  which  one  or  two  northern 
men  were  killed.  Somewhere  that  day  he  captured  Finley 
McNaughton  who  was  at  home  on  a  furlough.  Finley  agreed 
to  show  him  the  way  to  the  Ohio  River.  One  does  not 
know  just  what  his  aim  was.  It  was  impossible  for  him  to 
get  back  to  Flint  Island  now,  for  all  Perry  County  was 
■aroused.  Word  had  reached  Cannelton  that  one  thousand 
guerillas  had  crossed  the  river  and  Hinton  church  had 
been  burned. 

Finley  McNaughton  tried  to  deceive  him  and  waste  his 
time  by  taking  side  roads.  At  Milltown  Hines  got  a  horse 
belonging  to  Solomon  Funk.  When  midnight  came  Hines 
saw  that  he  was  being  betrayed  and  he  drew  his  revolver 
on  Finley  and  told  him  that  if  he  did  not  get  him  to  the 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  267 

river  he  would  shoot  him.  So  McNaughton  piloted  him 
down  the  old  Salem  road  to  the  Dug  Way,  near  the  Cedar 
Cemetery,  at  Leavenworth.  Here,  the  writer  was  informed, 
some  man  came  up  out  of  Leavenworth  and  met  Hines  and 
told  him  that  he  had  better  not  go  down  into  the  town,  for 
they  were  waiting  for  him.  So  he  turned  east  on  the  old 
Corydon  road,  crossed  Big  Blue  River  at  Zebulum  Leaven- 
worth's ford  and  reached  the  Ohio  River  at  the  Upper 
Island,  about  three  miles  above  Leavenworth.  They  were 
watering  their  horses  and  resting  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio, 
when  suddenly  a  band  of  Union  soldiers  came  down  on  them 
from  the  north.  Captain  Jesse  Esarey's  men  from  Perry 
County  were  closing  in  on  Hines  from  the  west  and  Captain 
Weathers'  Home  Guards  from  the  west  were  on  the  pursuit. 
"Brack"  Carnes  rushed  straight  south  from  Orange 
County  toward  Corydon  and  Captain  Horatio  Woodbury 
took  the  old  Leavenworth  and  Paoli  road  and  double- 
quicked  to  Leavenworth.  Meanwhile,  Leavenworth  was 
not  idle.  A  cannon  was  placed  near  where  the  bank  now 
stands  and  the  court  house  was  filled  with  armed  men  to 
fire  down  on  him. 

Mr.  Cook,  who  owned  a  tannery  near  the  top  of  the 
hill,  saw  them  pass.  He  seized  his  gun  and  tried  to  fire 
on  them  from  his  house  but  his  wife  held  his  arms  and 
would  not  let  him.  Then  he  ran  down  the  hill  and  told 
"Wash"  Lyons  that  the  rebels  were  making  for  the  Upper 
Island.  Then  the  men  put  their  six-pound  cannon  on  the 
Izetta,  a  small  steamboat,  and  steamed  up  the  river  for  the 
island. 

When  the  rebels  saw  the  Union  men  under  Carnes 
coming    down    the    hill   they    mounted   their   horses   and 


268  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

plunged  into  the  Ohio  River  and  got  over  to  the  island 
successfully.  Here  the  main  part  of  the  river  is  on  the 
Kentucky  side  of  the  river.  As  soon  as  the  men  were  on 
the  island  they  jeered  back  at  the  Union  men  and  rode 
around  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  island,  but  then  they 
saw  that  they  were  in  a  trap.  The  strip  of  water  on  the 
Kentucky  side  was  much  wider  and  deeper.  When  all 
was  ready  the  rebels  rode  around  the  island  at  a  gallop 
and  fired  on  the  Union  men.  Fortunately,  no  Union  men 
were  hurt,  but  one  or  more  rebels  were  dropped  at  each 
attack.  The  timber  on  the  island  sheltered  them.  A  tow- 
boat  came  down  the  river  and  Hines  ordered  it  to  stop 
and  set  them  over.  The  pilot  swung  his  boat  in  to  shore 
and  was  about  to  land  when  Wash  Lyons  came  up* the 
river  with  the  Izetta  and  a  six-pound  cannon  on  board. 
He  signaled  to  the  pilot  on  the  towboat  to  pull  out.  The 
pilot  by  this  time  recognized  that  something  was  wrong 
and  suddenly  steamed  away.  Hines  ordered  his  men  to 
fire,  but  no  one  was  hurt  although  the  boat  was  hit  by  many 
balls.  Hines,  seeing  that  the  case  was  hopeless,  ordered 
the  men  to  swim  over.  He  tied  his  pocketbook  on  his  head 
and  caught  his  horse  by  the  tail  and  swam  across  to  the 
Kentucky  shore.  The  others  all  attempted  to  follow,  but 
not  being  used  to  swimming,  were  struggling  in  the  water. 
The  horses  were  frightened,  the  men  scared,  and  several 
were  drowned.  Now  was  Wash  Lyons'  chance.  He  fired 
the  cannon  into  the  bunch  of  men.  The  ball  went  skipping 
along  on  the  water  but  whether  anyone  was  hit  no  one  can 
now  tell.  Most  of  the  men  got  back  to  the  shore  and  hud- 
dled together  in  a  bunch  while  one  or  two  raised  a  white 
rag  and  rode  around  asking  for  terms.    When  Wash  Lyons 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  269 

arrived  the  surrender  was  made,  but  the  southern  men 
hid  about  everything  that  they  could.  All  the  guns  were 
thrown  into  the  river.  One  horse  was  hidden  in  the  thick 
underbrush  for  about  three  days  when  George  Balthis  of 
Marengo  found  it,  but  Solomon  Funk  of  Milltown  claimed 
the  horse. 

Richard  Pierson  of  Fredonia  said  that  he  fired  on  Lieu- 
tenant Haycraft  several  times  but  his  bullets  fell  short  of 
him.  Haycraft  had  five  fair  shots  at  Pierson  but  missed. 
However,  one  ball  cut  the  hair  on  his  head.  Many  years 
afterward  Haycraft  was  a  candidate  for  office,  and  wished 
Pierson  to  vote  for  him,  but  Pierson  did  not. 

Near  the  end  of  the  battle  one  southern  man,  seeing 
the  cause  was  hopeless,  spurred  his  horse  forward  and 
made  a  bold  dash  for  freedom.  He  rode  up  the  shore  to 
the  upper  end  of  the  island  and  then  swam  back  to  the 
Indiana  side  while  the  northern  men  were  firing  at  him 
from  every  side  and  escaped  into  Scott  township.  Later 
he  was  caught  and  returned.  Many  strange  stories  are 
told  about  Hines.  Some  say  that  Daugherty  set  him  over ; 
others  say  that  Thacker  ferried  him  over,  and  still  others 
say  that  he  swam.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  he  escaped 
with  his  life,  no  matter  how.  Several  others  crossed  the 
river,  too,  and  escaped. 

The  rebels  were  brought  to  Leavenworth  and  kept  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  until  they  could  be  sent  to 
New  Albany.  One  poor  man  who  had  been  shot  through 
the  hips  was  allowed  to  suffer  several  hours  before  the  doc- 
tors in  Leavenworth  would  dress  the  wounds. 

As  the  prisoners  were  coming  up  the  wharf  May  Mc- 
Donald and  one  or  two  others  held  the  American  flag  up 


270         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

and  the  men  marched  under  it.  The  man  who  was  shot 
through  the  hips  hesitated  and  was  compelled  to  move 
under  old  "Glory."  He  swore  and  said  that  Morgan 
would  be  through  here  in  about  two  weeks  and  he  would 
give  them  the  "devil."  He  certainly  did  when  he  came 
along. 

The  other  Union  forces  arrived  that  afternoon  and  the 
town  was  full  of  soldiers. 

The  dead  rebels  were  buried  at  Leavenworth  but  later 
on  were  removed  by  their  friends.  One  gentleman  from 
Brandenburg  came  to  William  Allen's  home  and  wanted 
him  to  help  him  over  to  the  island  to  get  the  body  of  his 
brother.  Allen  would  not  go  but  the  man  dug  up  the 
corpse.  He  told  Allen  that  his  brother  had  a  belt  around 
his  waist  filled  with  gold  money.  By  that  he  would  recog- 
nize the  body.  When  the  body  was  found  he  put  it  in  a 
big  pine  box  and  hauled  it  home  for  a  more  decent  burial. 

One  man,  who  managed  to  swim  over  on  a  fence  rail, 
went  up  to  Mr.  Allen's  home  and  demanded  his  dinner. 
The  Aliens  had  dinner  prepared,  but  being  in  plain  view 
of  the  island,  had  watched  it  and  the  battle  and  neglected 
dinner.  At  first  this  big  red-headed  Irishman  stood  up 
and  ate  at  the  cupboard  for  fear  the  food  at  the  table  was 
not  safe.  Gabriel  Allen,  one  of  William  Allen's  sons, 
came  into  the  house,  and  a  fight  ensued.  It  seems  that 
the  two  grabbed  the  gun  and  were  struggling  up  and 
down  the  hallway  with  it.  The  boy  was  holding  his  own 
wrell  with  the  Irishman  till  they  tripped  each  other  and  fell 
to  the  floor.  What  the  outcome  would  have  been  no  one 
now  could  tell,  but  suddenly  John  Allen,  another  brother, 
about  thirteen  }Tears  old,  hearing  the  noise,  ran  from  the 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  271 

barn  to  the  house.  As  he  came  into  the  room  he  saw  the 
two  fall.  Quick  as  a  flash  he  grabbed  a  big  bootjack, 
raised  it  high  in  the  air,  and  with  all  the  power  he  had 
struck  the  man  a  blow  on  the  head.  That  ended  the  fight. 
The  man  cried  that  he  would  surrender  and  for  his  poor 
old  mother's  sake  be  spared.  His  head  was  dressed  and  a 
good  dinner  given  him.  He  gave  up  the  two  Colt  revol- 
vers. Mr.  Allen  in  the  meanwhile  had  been  capturing 
another  man  who  had  gotten  away.  That  afternoon  he 
took  the  men  over  to  Leavenworth  and  put  them  with  the 
rest. 

Allen,  who  was  a  strong  Union  man,  had  many  enemies. 
Later  they  raided  his  home  and  stole  his  revolvers  and 
horses.  When  matters  became  too  serious  he  used  to 
escape  to  Indiana  and  stay  with  Uncle  John  Lynch  near 
Weathers,  on  Dry  Run  Creek. 

As  stated  before,  the  good  people  of  Crawford  County 
bore  the  woes  of  the  terrible  struggle  with  fortitude. 
Crawford  County  had  8,226  inhabitants  and  furnished  868 
men.  Martin  County  had  8,975  people  and  furnished  821 
men.  Greene  County  had  16,041  people  and  furnished 
1,432  men.  The  above  shows  that  Crawford  County  led 
the  state. 

The  county  commissioners  are  to  be  commended  for  the 
good  work  they  did.  At  their  meeting  in  December,  1861, 
they  ordered  the  township  trustees  to  furnish  the  help  for 
any  family  in  distress  if  the  man  was  in  the  service. 

In  1864,  March  8th,  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
released  White  from  paying  poll  tax.  George  White  had 
been  in  the  service  and  had  been  wounded  at  Stone  River. 

On  January  14,  1865,  the  board  held  a  special  meeting 


272         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

at  Leavenworth  to  devise  a  means  of  keeping  the  draft  out 
of  the  county.  A  bounty  of  $100  was  offered  to  anyone 
who  would  enlist.  Horatio  Woodbury  was  to  supervise 
the  matter  and  report  to  the  auditor  when  the  man  was 
received  into  the  service.  The  county  auditor  was  author- 
ized to  borrow  $3,000  on  January  7,  1865,  out  of  which 
bounties  were  to  be  paid.  On  January  21,  1865,  the  bounty 
was  raised  to  $300.  A  tax  had  been  levied  to  pay  the 
bounties. 

The  soldiers  received  $8,825,  as  shown  by  the  report  of 
June  3,  1867.  The  report  of  June  2,  1868,  shows  $1,046.41 
and  again  $669. 

Soldiers'  families  had  received  $2,788.21  by  the  report 
of  June  7,  1869;  June  6,  1870,  paid  out  $38.00;  June  1, 
1871,  paid  out  $15,  and  June  1,  1872,  paid  out  $15. 

CRAWFORD   COUNTY  AND  THE  WAR  OF   1860 

Much  confusion  arose  about  the  claims  of  soldiers  for 
their  bounty.  The  sheriff  ordered  the  commissioners  to 
meet  on  October  24,  1868,  and  consider  the  claims  of  vari- 
ous soldiers.  The  board  agreed  to  make  allowance  to  all 
who  were  not  worth  over  $500,  and  $50  to  each  child  under 
twelve  years  of  age.  The  board  of  commissioners  examined 
the  claims  of  all  the  soldiers  and  agreed  to  give  as  follows : 

JENNINGS    TOWNSHIP              9.  D.    W.    Beals 72.00 

10.  W.     F.    McClain 84.60 

1.  Wilfred    Bruce $144.00       11.  Josiah    Kimes 39.60 

2.  James    G.    Froman...      46.40       12.  Aaron    Anthony 120.00 

3.  James   V.    Sauerheber     96.00       13.  A.    C.    Barmore'. 48.00 

4.  Leander     Totten 46.20  14.  Jephtha     Williams...  39.60 

5.  E.    H.    Patrick 34.80       15.  Robert     Roach 41.06 

6.  John    Nash 120.00       16.  William    R.    Wood...      55.00 

7.  William    M.    Winn...      60.40       17.  A.    H.   Peckinpaugh.  .    142.00 

8.  Isaac    Starkey 53.66       18.  W.    G.    Wiseman 39.60 


THE  CIVIL  WAR 


273 


19.  J.    W.    Jenkins 70.46 

20.  Dencil    Carver 41.50 

21.  F.    Vanhozen 168.00 

22.  William     Pegg 29.00 

23.  W.    H.    Sturgeon 120.00 

24.  William    Yates 46.20 

25.  V.    B.    Goldman 46.40 

26.  John    Guiilbert 210.00 

27.  John    B.    Goodson.  .  .  67.00 

28.  James   M.    Dean 47.60 

29.  E.    E.    Biller 29.00 

30.  J.    H.    Trobaugh 46.40 

31.  Philip    Gray 59.70 

32.  James     McGuire 134.00 

33.  Simon    Newkirk 46.20 

34.  Green   Satterfield 144.00 

35.  Thomas    Lynch 63.80 

36.  William    P*    Dotson.  .  30.60 

37.  William     C.     Breeden  36.50 

38.  Eli     Strugeon 35.00 

39.  L.    E.    Woodford 33.10 

40.  C.    A.    Mathews 60.40 

41.  D.    W.    Newbury 48.00 

WHISKY  RUN   TOWNSHIP 

1.  Ed.     Hawkins $  64.50 

2.  James     Mills 34.40 

3.  Alex     Botman 120.00 

4.  G.    D.    Boman 34.92 

5.  J.    H.    Lonogan 36.50 

6.  Warren    Asken 46.40 

7.  Sam     Jenkins 35.60 

8.  G.    H.    Austin 87.60 

9.  John    Morgan 96.00 

10.  Sebastion    Coleman.  .  192.00 

11.  Ed     Eollin 113.40 

12.  G.    W.    Shafter 29.66 

13.  Simon    Strand 27.60 

14.  Henry    Jenkins 29.76 

15.  Isaac    Strand 96.00 

16.  John     Flanagan 40.60 

17.  J.    B.    Anderson 192.00 

18.  Joseph    Ballard 5.80 

19.  William    Searles 70.60 

20.  J.    W.    Crecelius 21.33 

21.  Joseph     Belcher 67.60 


22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 
41. 
42. 
43. 
44. 
45. 


1. 
2. 
3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 


Dominicus    Beryer.  .  .  75.72 

William    Lawrence.  .  .  61.86 

Isaac    Lawrence 63.90 

Duvaul    L.    Brown...  168.00 

James    Sinclair 63.80 

Almarine      Moore....  168.00 

W.     11.    Knight 192.00 

Thos.    F.    Newton 184.00 

Luke     Rowland 41.06 

William    Kirk 21.60 

E.    C.    Pace 175.20 

Gideon    Smith 120.00 

A.    H.    Hatfield 18.00 

John    Fergerson 168.00 

A.    A.    Hatfield 88.20 

W.    L.   Patton 168.00 

William    McCarty 37.06 

Samuel    Sharon 118.50 

John    Hallen 57.00 

John  C.   Head 192.0c0 

A.    H.    Young 50.40 

Willim     Hallen 24.00 

Sam     Eckerty 29.00 

Sam    Brubeck 47.60 

STERLING    TOWNSHIP 

Thomas    J.    Francis.  .$  96.00 

David      Markly 168.00 

L.    D.    Thornbury 120.00 

Oliver    Dooley 96.00 

Frederick     Cook 168.00 

John    G.    Mills 88.20 

A.    J.    Hooten 32.00 

Harrison    Newkirk...  48.00 

James     Longest 42.66 

Sam      Bell 48.00 

John  M.   Longest....  26.13 

John     Overby 46.22 

G.    W.    Cook 120.00 

William    Seaton 27.50 

David     Sumners 67.66 

Henry    Brown 96.00 

Theodore    Grant 80.00 

William    Judd 52.20 

Daniel    Hancock 35.00 

William    Sands 14.00 


274 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


21.  Theopilus    Longest...  40.00 

22.  B.    W.    L.    Newkirk.  .  80.00 

23.  Robert    Monk 120.00 

24.  Sam    Longest 120.00 

25.  W.    E.    Moore 27.45 

26.  Clark    Willman 9.33 

27.  William     Ballard 184.00 

28.  John    Morris 10.10 

29.  Sam     Straughn 120.00 

The  total  number  was  231. 


30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 


Robert    G.    Battomly 
Evan    S.    Francis. 
Thomas    Dooley. . 
W.    H.    H.    Brown 

John    Key 

William  Crawford 
W.  G.  Roberson. 
John  W.  Carroll. 
John    H.    Byrd... 


168.00 
72.00 
29<.00 
43.00 
35.00 
84.00 

176.00 
60.00 
29.66 


LIBERTY    TOWNSHIP 

1.  Joseph    Simon $  42.66 

2.  John    Bullington 70.56 

3.  James    W.    Riley 52.40 

4.  David   H.    Morgan...     84.65 

5.  W.    H.    Sloan 29.00 

6.  James     Weathers....      70.45 

7.  William    T.    Creech..      34.10 

8.  William    M.    Stewart.     34.00 

9.  W.   P.   Dooley 216.00 

10.  Samuel     Bullington..  118.00 

11.  Mathias    Harper 70.45 

12.  Simon    Peter 192.00 

13.  Theophilus    Key 84.65 

14.  Jacob     Bloat ...  40.60 

15.  Solomon     Weathers.  .  48.00 

16.  William    T.    Vance...  40.25 

17.  Michael    Payton 28.50 

18.  John    Randall 48.00 

19.  John    H.    Bird 29.60 

UNION    TOWNSHIP 

1.  Silas     Breeden $120.00 

2.  Thomas    H.    Rot 59.40 

3.  James    W.    Seaton...     40.60 


4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
1  ! . 
L2. 
13. 
14. 
L5. 
L6. 
17. 
is. 

1!). 
20. 
21. 
22. 


1. 
2. 
3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
L2. 
L3. 


Joseph    W.    Denbo 
John    W.    Yates. 

John    Yates 

Jeremiah  Walls. 
J.  M.  Smallwood 
Alfred  Morgan. 
W.    G.    Robertson 

W.    Jones 

Jacob  Holley.  .  . 
David     Laswell .  . 

G.    W.  Att 

George  H.  Myler 
James  R.  Humphrey 
William  Thompson 
Thomas  R.  Seaton 
Hiram  Perkins.  .  .  . 
John  Armstrong.  . 
Francis  Blackman . 
G.   S.   Wilson 


37.40 

120.00 

160.00 

47.60 

53.20 

168.00 

42.00 

96.00 

86.65 

96.00 

34.80 

144.00 

192.00 

120.00 

172.00 

144.00 

36.50 

5.95 


JOHNSON  TOWNSHIP 

James  W.  Courtney.  .$120.00 

William     Trusty 71.05 

Isaac     Kendall' 168.00 

John   II.    Boyles 39.00 

Wilson     Hobbs 133.80 

Joseph    Rilev 24.00 

William    R.  *  Root 140.80 

John    Deal 46.40 

Sam  M.   Hatfield 52.20 

John    S.     Murray 120.00 

Simon    Polen 45.56 

G.   W.    Blunt 26.40 

Charles    Felker 120.00 

BOONE    TOWNSHIP 

Alva    C.    Franklin.  .  .$144^00 

Elias  W.   Beals 29.44 

John     Kemp 192.00 

James    Wiseman 144.00 

William     Pickett 29.40 

Miles  Kemp 23.60 

Daniel     Yates 87.30 

W.    G.    Wright 50.30 

James     Sheckles 70.60 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  275 

10.  C.    F.    Johnson 121.30       16.  Ira    Harden 96.00 

11.  Sam    A.    Eaton 120.00       17.  Joseph     Cofman 35.60 

12.  Lyman    Brooks 96.00       18.  Thomas    J.    Rails 90.60 

19.  Wilson    Conrad 160.00 

OHIO    TOWNSHIP                    20.  Adam     Shardine 43.70 

21.   Thomas   W.    Whitman  30.00 

1.  Robert    Everdon $168.00       22.  Peter  E.   Seaeat 41.60 

2.  F.    M.    Hedden 33.00       23.  Nicholas    Coleman...  109.85 

3.  Hiram    Sugler 67.40       24.  James  W.  Sturgeon.  .  61.00 

4.  Granville     Linton 48.50       25..  John  R.   Lynch 96.00 

5.  Obdiah     McQuire 68.80       26.  W.    H.    Allen 64.00 

C).  Mathew    Tower 96.00       27.  F.    M.    Sibbert 96.00 

7.  John     Cosbv 90.00       28  Joseph    Williams 79.30 

8.  John    H.    Wilson 50.30       29.  Lewis     McKay 93.60 

9.  R,    S.    Wilson 96.00       30.  James     Straughn 70.60 

10.  Wash    J.    Bullock....  51.50  31.  Abram    Sheckell 29.66 

11.  William    Chandler...  59.20  32.  John    H.    Cox 50.30 

12.  A.    G.    Gray 40.25  33.  Calvin    Pleasant 80.50 

13.  A.     G.    Harden 35.60  34.  John    Handspire 80.50 

14.  Peter     Grant 64.40  35.  Jacob    East 60.40 

15.  Lew    Franklin 29.66  36.  Marvin      Lanrus 168.00 

KNIGHTS   OF   THE   GOLDEN    CIRCLE 

In  October,  1864,  General  Jordan,  of  the  "Legion," 
discovered  a  very  dangerous  conspiracy  in  Crawford  and 
Orange  Comities.  He  regarded  the  matter  in  Crawford 
County  a  miserable  failure.  These  counties  were  filled 
with  many  men  who  opposed  the  war.  These  had  become 
members  of  a  secret  society  known  as  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle.  Not  all  members  of  the  disgraceful  order 
were  traitors.  Many  who  joined  it  never  knew  for  some 
time  what  the  real  purpose  was.  It  seems  that  the  main 
purpose  was  to  hinder  the  war  in  any  way  it  could.  The 
chief  methods  were:  (1)  To  encourage  deserters  and  hide 
them  when  they  did  succeed  in  evading  the  Union  officers; 
(2)  To  prevent  enlistments;  (3)  To  resist  the  draft;  (4) 
To  give  aid  to  Captain  Hines  and  General  Morgan  when 
they  were  ready  to  make  their  spectacular  raids. 


276         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

No  one  knows  how  many  men  were  members.  There 
were  secret  signs,  passwords  and  grips.  The  password  in 
one  degree  was  "Nuohlac, "  which  was  Calhoun  spelled 
backward.  The  members  in  Crawford  County  were  en- 
couraged by  men  from  Kentucky.  Sallie  Flock,  who  lived 
in  Jennings  township,  said  that  three  men  came  to  her 
father 's  house  one  morning.  She  told  them  that  her  father 
was  out  at  the  barn.  When  they  went  out  to  the  barn 
she  watched  them  carefully  and  saw  them  make  curious 
signs  with  their  hands  at  her  father,  who  was  making  sim- 
ilar signs  at  them.  After  they  left  she  asked  her  father  why 
they  were  making  such  signs  at  each  other.  Then  he 
told  her  that  they  were  members  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle.  About  two  weeks  later,  when  Hines  made  his 
raid  into  Crawford  County,  the  same  men  were  in  his 
company  that  were  at  her  home  before.  But  these  Knights 
were  confronted  by  the  bravest  men,  the  most  daring  sol- 
diers, and  faithful  Union  men  who  tried  to  defeat  the 
Copperheads  on  every  hand. 

The  Knights  tried  to  resist  the  draft.  They  insulted 
the  ladies  at  houses  where  their  husbands  were  in  the  serv- 
ice. Besides  these  dastardly  deeds  they  did  not  hesitate  to 
rob  and  pilfer  when  occasion  came  their  way. 

During  the  summer  of  1864  many  of  them  were  arrested 
and  sent  to  Indianapolis.  A  raid  was  made  on  Hartford 
and  Brownstown  where  many  were  captured.  The  com- 
pany of  soldiers  who  made  the  raid  on  Hartford  went  on 
to  Brownstown  with  a  little  cannon.  When  they  came  in 
sight  of  the  town  a  large  crowd  of  men  was  seen  in  the 
town.  The  Union  men  fired  their  cannon  up  the  creek  into 
the  hills.     That  was  enough.     When  they  arrived  no  men 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  277 

were  to  be  seen  except  some  who  were  working  at  various 
things.  There  were  about  ninety  picked  up  at  Hartford. 
These  were  taken  to  Indianapolis  where  they  were  finally 
released  after  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  American 


At  the  general  inquiry  these  men  were  examined  by 
bringing  the  prisoners  into  a  room  one  at  a  time.  General 
Jordan  and  Captain  Woodbury  were  present.  Of  the  men 
taken  by  Captain  Aydelotte,  Junius  Lanox,  who  lived  in 
Greenfield  township,  stated  that  he  was  a  drafted  man, 
that  he  went  to  Williamsburg  in  Orange  County  where  he 
heard  that  the  drafted  men  were  going  to  resist  the  draft. 
George  Coffman  of  Floyd  County  made  a  speech  urging  all 
the  men  to  resist  the  draft.  At  another  meeting,  held  on 
October  1,  1864,  south  of  Williamsburg,  John  Allstott,  of 
Crawford  County,  advised  us  to  resist  the  draft.  The 
guns  taken  from  the  Home  Guards  was  done  more  for 
spite  than  anything  else.  He  took  a  gun  from  Valentine 
Cook  of  the  Valeene  Home  Guards.  He  was  along  when 
Patterson  Apple  was  arrested  or  held  up  by  the  Knights 
and  robbed  of  his  revolver.  Many  drafted  men  were 
present  at  these  meetings.  These  were  strangers,  many  of 
whom  might  have  been  from  Kentucky.  Jacob  Cook  took 
the  lead  in  disarming  Valentine  Cook  and  Heinener  Lei- 
bolt  helped  in  taking  the  revolver  from  Patterson  Apple. 

William  Sanders  of  Sterling  township  was  called  next. 
He  said  that  he  saw  something  was  wrong.  His  son  James 
was  in  the  crowd  and  he  wanted  to  get  him  away.  He  over- 
took a  crowd  of  the  men  near  Belcher's  in  Sterling  town- 
ship. Before  we  got  to  E.  H.  Golden 's  there  were  about 
thirty  in  the  crowd.     He  knew  seven  of  them  who  were 


278  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Union — McMickle,  Bob  Allen,  John  Allstott,  James  San- 
ders, Thomas  Highfill,  John  McKabe,  Ben  Brown  and 
Benton  Newkirk.  They  told  him  that  they  were  going  to 
press  Hall  Golden 's  money  and  horses.  He  did  not  know 
what  they  got  because  he  took  no  part  in  the  robbeiy,  but 
understood  a  horse  and  pistol  were  taken  at  another  place. 
John  Allstott  told  him  that  if  he  ever  told  on  them  his 
life  was  in  danger.  Just  as  he  was  leaving  for  home  he 
heard  men  say  that  several  rich  hauls  were  made.  He 
stated  further  that  he  was  at  the  store  in  Brownstown  and 
the  postoffice  on  the  next  Thursday  where  much  talk  was 
made  about  seizing  the  guns  of  the  Home  Guard.  He 
heard  Ben  Brown  and  Benton  Newkirk  "hurrah"  for  Jeff 
Davis.  There  were  about  fifty  in  all.  The  robbers  used 
nicknames  in  the  dark  so  that  he  did  not  know  any  but 
whom  he  saw  in  Golden 's  house. 

Lorenzo  D.  Knight  of  Patoka  township  was  next  called. 
He  stated  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle  and  that  the  signs  General  Jordan  gave  were 
all  right.  When  Morgan  was  last  in  Kentucky  he  said 
we  were  to  help  him  and  he  would  come  over  and  help  us. 
We  were  to  seize  horses  and  guns  in  our  neighborhood  to 
mount  and  ride  away  with  him.  They  cursed  Lincoln 
bitterly.  Doctor  Bowles  was  a  general  in  the  order.  They 
intended  to  put  Wood  Cummins  out  of  the  way  and  hang 
Hall  Golden  if  they  could  slip  upon  him.  There  was  talk 
about  robbing  Bill  Ray,  whom  they  said  had  a  large  sum 
of  money.  He  was  with  McMickle  and  Allstott  when  they 
went  to  rob  Cummins  on  Friday  morning.  He  heard  that 
a  majority  of  the  men  in  his  county  were  Knights.  He 
heard  Jesse  McWilliams  denounce  the  President.     Kinsey 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  279 

Livingston  and  Perry  Knight  asked  me  to  join  the  K.  G.  C. 
He  saw  at  the  meeting  when  he  went  James  Sanders,  John 
Mason,  Elisha  Mason,  Tim  Mason,  John  Knight,  William 
Sander,  Larking  Lankford,  Henry  Strand,  Duval  L. 
Brown,  Jesse  Cuzzort,  Tim  Belcher,  Joel  Newkirk  and 
Jonathan  Newkirk.  Most  of  these  men  were  at  Kendall's 
store  in  Orange  County  on  Saturday  night,  October  1st. 
He  voted  to  resist  the  draft  at  the  meeting  at  Zion's  Hol- 
low near  Brownstown.  That  meeting  was  held  on  Septem- 
ber 29th.  He  thought  a  majority  of  the  men  voted  not  to 
resist  the  draft  then  because  they  had  failed  to  secure 
outside  help  which  had  been  promised  them.  Frank  En- 
low  said  that  he  would  not  report  if  he  was  drafted.  He 
was  with  them  when  they  robbed  Ed  Hall  Golden,  but  they 
did  not  get  as  much  money  as  they  expected.  He  thought 
the  leaders  got  most  of  the  money.  Elias  Corby  of  Orange 
County  was  with  them  at  Golden 's. 

James  E.  Allen  of  Sterling  township  was  called  next. 
He  heard  Union  McMickle  say  that  he  intended  to  use  up 
James  Sloan  and  kill  Woods  Cummings  and  Joseph  Miller 
at  the  risk  of  his  own  life.  They  were  opposed  to  the  milk 
and  water  policy  of  Jim  Lemons  (county  clerk)  and  Mart 
Tucker  (county  sheriff).  They  were  assisted  by  men  from 
Kentucky  and  three  hundred  were  said  to  be  in  camp  in 
Harrison  County.  The  ballot  boxes  also  were  to  be  stuffed 
at  election. 

The  above  testimonies  were  taken  from  Terrell's  re- 
ports, Volume  I,  pp.  291.  Woods  Cummings,  Hall  Golden 
and  Mart  Tucker  were  staunch  Union  men. 

The  efforts  of  this  treasonable  organization  was  to  help 
defeat  the  Union,  but  when  General  Forrest  was  defeated 


280  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

and  General  Morgan  was  compelled  to  run  for  his  life,  the 
Knights  had  no  time  to  get  together.  General  Carrington 
said  that  they  knew  each  time  a  rebel  army  was  approach- 
ing the  Ohio  River. 


A  history  of  Crawford  Connty  will  be  incomplete  with- 
out an  account  of  Morgan's  raid  and  the  part  our  boys 
played  in  that  spectacular  campaign. 

About  Monday,  July  6,  1863,  Morgan's  advance  guard 
arrived  in  the  town  of  Brandenburg.  They  were  sent 
ahead  to  watch  for  boats  in  which  the  army  would  cross 
to  the  Indiana  side.  Fortunately  for  them,  they  found 
Captain  Ballard's  fine  steamer  at  the  wharf.  They  cap- 
tured the  McCombs.  Shortly  after  that  the  fine  steamer 
Alice  Dean  came  by.  The  men  captured  her  by  firing  a 
shot  across  her  bow.  Other  boats  got  away  and  came 
down  the  river  whistling  and  spreading  the  news. 

The  Home  Guards  of  Leavenworth  left  immediately 
with  their  six-pound  cannon.  They  went  up  the  river 
bank  dragging  the  cannon  along  with  the  hope  that  they 
might  capture  Morgan. 

On  Wednesday  morning  they  were  opposite  Branden- 
burg with  their  field  piece  planted,  ready  for  action.  The 
fog  that  morning  hid  the  view  of  the  Kentucky  side.  At 
times  they  could  hear  the  noise  in  the  town.  The  river 
here  is  about  one  thousand  yards  wide.  About  nine  o'clock 
the  fog  lifted  so  that  the  Union  men  could  see  the  wharf. 
To  their  great  surprise  the  town  was  gray  with  people. 

Morgan's  main  cavalry  had  come  up  by  this  time.  One 
of  the  boats  was  loaded  with  oats.     The  sacks  were  carried 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  281 

ashore  and  the  oats  poured  out  on  the  ground  for  his 
horses  to  eat. 

Leaning  against  the  wharf  boat  Morgan's  advance 
guard  found  Captain  Hines  who  looked  haggard,  careworn 
and  really  was  a  "  sorry  sight. ' '  He  had  escaped  the  Union 
Army  at  Blue  River  Island  a  few  days  before.  He  readily 
joined  Morgan  and  became  a  daring  soldier. 

The  LTnion  men  who  had  the  small  rifle  cannon  aimed 
the  gun  at  the  mass  of  rebels  on  the  Kentucky  side  and 
fired.  After  several  seconds  they  saw  the  fire  and  dust  rise 
where  the  ball  hit.  The  men  sought  protection  in  all 
directions.  Men  informed  the  writer  that  one  could  not 
count  twenty-five  before  the  court  house  square  was  vacant. 
Suddenly  they  saw  six  gray  horses  coming  into  action  in  a 
sweeping  gallop.  The  driver  wheeled  around  and  fired  at 
the  Union  men.  The  ball  cut  Jim  Lemon's  coat  tail  off  as 
he  was  helping  the  men  load  the  cannon.  Our  men  fired 
again.  The  second  shot  from  Morgan's  men  hit  one  wheel 
of  the  cannon.  Our  men  fired  again.  This  was  too  hot  a 
fight  for  the  few  Home  Guards.  They  left  the  cannon  and 
ran  into  an  old  log  cabin  house  on  the  bank.  The  third 
shot  hit  the  gable  ends,  knocking  out  two  logs,  which 
caused  the  old  house  to  fall.  Our  boys  came  out  of  the 
dirt  and  fallen  roof  running  like  mad  men.  Tom  Ells- 
worth said  that  it  was  a  very  amusing  scene. 

The  southern  men  then  came  over  and  landed  a  large 
number  of  men  on  the  Indiana  side.  They  formed  in 
battle  line  and  advanced,  firing  upon  our  Home  Guards, 
who  were  behind  haystacks  and  trees.  The  Union  gunboat 
Elk  came  down  and  a  terrible  battle  ensued.  The  heavy 
parrots  after  an  hour's  firing  drove  the  gunboat  away. 


282         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Then  the  main  army  crossed.  Captain  Ballard  of  the 
steamer  McCombs  kept  a  tally  of  the  men.  He  said  that 
4,800  men,  5,100  horses  and  two  six-pound  and  two  twelve- 
pound  cannon  were  set  over.  The  wharfboat  at  Branden- 
burg was  sunk  and  the  steamer  Alice  Dean  was  burned. 
Her  hull  may  yet  be  seen  when  the  river  is  very  low  at 
Brandenburg.  The  Alice  Dean  was  owned  by  northern 
men.  By  the  intervention  of  Basil  Duke  and  Bushrod 
Johnson,  Captain  Ballard's  steamer,  John  F.  McCombs, 
was  spared.  He  steamed  up  the  river  and  gave  a  report 
to  the  New  Albany  Ledger. 

Morgan's  men  were  across  the  river  by  that  afternoon 
and  were  in  full  march  toward  Corydon.  The  Home 
Guards  were  pushed  back.  The  first  blood  was  spilled  by 
the  Union  men  when  they  fired  the  cannon  across  the  river, 
wounding  William  Wilson,  one  of  the  quartermasters,  who 
was  down  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 

As  Morgan  neared  Corydon  some  one  fired  from  a  fence 
row  and  killed  one  of  his  soldiers.  His  men  set  fire  to 
Reverend  Peter  Glenn's  home.  Glenn  ran  out  to  put  out 
the  fire.  They  ordered  him  away  but  he  refused.  Then 
they  shot  him  dead  and  wounded  his  son.  Mrs.  Glenn 
begged  that  she  might  be  allowed  to  get  some  clothes  and 
a  ham  of  meat  out  of  the  house,  but  her  request  was  re- 
fused. They  made  her  go  out  into  the  road  and  help  pull 
the  dead  rebel  out  of  the  way.  At  Corydon  the  Home 
Guards   defended   the   town   until   they   were   outflanked. 

Many  amusing  stories  were  told  about  Morgan.  He 
took  a  fine  stallion  from  one  man  near  Corydon.  The  owner 
told  Morgan  that  he  could  take  the  horse  but  that  he  had 
one  request  to  make  of  him  first.    That  if  he  could  not  work 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  283 

or  ride  the  stallion  that  Morgan  would  turn  him  loose. 
Morgan  agreed  to  that.  About  two  days  later,  when  the 
man  went  out  to  feed,  he  found  the  horse  at  the  gate  with 
whip  marks  all  over  him. 

A  man  who  was  named  Lang  became  so  frightened  that 
he  started  to  run  from  Corydon  to  the  Wyandotte  Cave 
where  he  could  hide.  He  ran  about  three  miles  from  Cory- 
don before  he  dropped  dead  from  heart  failure.  He  was 
a  native  of  Harrison  County. 

Our  Home  Guards  followed  Morgan  all  the  way 
through  until  he  was  captured.  On  several  occasions  they 
captured  his  meat  cooking  and  saw  the  dust  of  the  retreat- 
ing rebels. 

John  McCollister  of  Leavenworth  was  sent  as  a  courier 
to  New  Albany.  He  rode  eighty-five  miles  over  rough 
roads  in  twenty-five  hours.  He  stated  that  not  many  of 
the  Leavenworth  Home  Guards  were  captured ;  that  sev- 
enty-three were  taken  at  Corydon  from  the  Harrison 
County  Guards. 

Men  told  Morgan  that  southern  Indiana  was  full  of 
Copperheads.  He  said  that  was  about  right,  for  they  were 
all  striking  at  him. 


Having  been  requested  by  Mr.  H.  H.  Pleasant,  the 
author  of  a  forthcoming  history  of  Crawford  County,  Indi- 
ana, to  prepare  and  submit  to  him  a  personal  sketch  of  my 
military  services  and  experiences  during  the  Civil  War 
period,  and  since,  I  gladly  comply,  assuring  those  who  may 
honor  this  contribution  with  a  perusal,  of  the  sincerity  of 
my  purpose  to  utter  nothing  herein  but  what  I  believe  to 


284         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

be  truly  reliable  statements  of  fact.  I  have  always  been 
proud  of  my  native  county,  and  of  the  fact  that  I  had  an 
opportunity  to  bear  a  humble  part  in  thte  patriotic  military 
activities  of  its  people. 

' '  I,  John  Richard  Weathers,  was  born  in  a  log  house  on 
a  farm  near  the  village  of  Big  Springs  (now  the  town  of 
Marengo),  Crawford  County,  Indiana,  on  the  12th  day  of 
March,  1847.  In  early  boyhood  I  had  learned  to  play  a 
few  simple  tunes  on  the  fife,  and  when  the  War  of  the 
Great  Rebellion  was  begun  in  1861,  and  active  recruiting 
operations  wrere  inaugurated,  my  services  as  a  fifer,  to- 
gether with  that  of  my  younger  brother,  James  Henry 
Weathers,  as  a  snare-drummer,  was  in  urgent  demand,  for 
musicians  of  that  type  were  very  scarce  in  that  community. 
I  was  urged  by  those  making  up  military  companies  to  go 
with  them  as  company  fifer.  But  I  was  a  minor,  little 
more  than  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  could  not  properly 
go  without  the  consent  of  my  parents. 

' '  Having  naturally  a  strong  military  inclination,  inher- 
ited, doubtless,  from  my  father,  Enoch  Weathers,  who  held 
a  life  commission  as  captain  in  the  militia  of  Indiana,  I 
literally  begged  permission  to  enter  the  service,  and  finally 
prevailed.  My  father  took  me,  about  November  17,  1861, 
on  horseback  to  Camp  Joe  Holt,  near  Jeffersonville,  Indi- 
ana, where  I  was  left  in  care  of  the  officers  of  Company  F, 
Forty-ninth  Indiana  Infantry,  with  the  distinct  under- 
standing, before  witnesses,  that  I  was  to  be  kept  in  camp 
ten  days,  and  then,  in  case  I  desired  to  remain,  to  be 
examined  and  mustered  into  the  service  as  a  musician. 
But  before  the  ten  days  had  expired,  the  United  States 
mustering   officer   came,    and,    after   a   hasty   perfunctory 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  285 

physical  examination,  as  we  stood  in  line,  the  whole  regi- 
ment was  mustered,  by  companies,  into  the  military  service 
of  the  United  States,  on  November  23,  1861,  for  three  years, 
unless  sooner  discharged. 

The  weather  was  damp  and  cold,  and  the  slush-covered 
ground  and  the  unheated  tents  presented  a  cheerless  spec- 
tacle to  all  of  us  just  out  from  the  cozy  comforts  of  home. 
But  it  was  a  war  game  we  were  entering  and  most  of  us 
boys  felt  that  it  would  be  'great  delight  to  march  and 
fight  as  Yankee  volunteers.'  I  had  been  in  camp  but  a 
short  time  before  I  was  prostrated  by  the  measles.  This 
caused  my  transference  from  camp  in  an  army  wagon 
drawn  by  four  husky  mules,  to  an  improvised  hospital  in 
a  small  church  building  in  the  city  of  Jeffersonville,  Indi- 
ana. 

"I  knew  nothing  of  the  dangers  incident  to  measles 
(which  is  said  to  have  caused  more  deaths  in  the  contend- 
ing armies  than  was  effected  by  the  deadly  implements  of 
warfare)  ;  and,  knowing  little  of  necessary  military  re- 
straint and  being  anxious  to  rejoin  my  comrades  who  had 
gone  into  Kentucky  and  were  then  encamped  near  Bards- 
town,  Kentucky,  forty  miles  south  of  Louisville,  I  left  the 
hospital  before  I  was  out  of  danger  from  relapse,  without 
official  permission,  and  went  to  camp.  It  was  mid- winter 
and  the  weather  was  inclement,  and  I  soon  contracted  a 
heavy  cold  which  rapidly  developed  into  pneumonia  in  a 
hospital,  improvised  from  a  girls'  seminary  in  Bardstown. 
Here  we  had  neither  carpeting  on  the  floor,  nor  cots  nor 
pallets,  but,  wrapped  in  personal  clothing  and  blankets,  the 
sick  lay  in  rows  stretched  on  the  bare  floor  with  heads 
near  the  walls  of  the  room.     The  only  means  of  heating 


286         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  room  consisted  of  a  small  coal-grate  fire  at  the  rear 
end  of  the  hall  we  occupied,  but  this  gave  no  perceptible 
warmth  to  us  on  the  floor. 

"I  had  notified  my  father  from  Jeffersonville  that  I 
had  the  measles.  He  came  to  look  after  me,  but  failing  to 
find  me  there,  followed  on  to  Bardstown.  Here  he  made  a 
vigorous  effort  to  secure  my  discharge  from  the  service, 
but  this  was  denied  by  the  regimental  surgeon.  My  father 
went  home,  but  soon  returned,  and  after  a  lengthy  con- 
ference at  night  with  the  surgeon,  during  which  it  devel- 
oped that  the  surgeon  had  married  a  Miss  "Weathers,  my 
father 's  cousin,  whose  home  was  in  the  White  River  section 
of  Indiana,  he  obtained  for  me  a  furlough  of  thirty  days. 
I  was  taken  home  at  once,  where,  under  the  skillful  care 
of  my  brother-in-law,  Doctor  Isaac  H.  Girdner,  the  work 
of  rescue  and  repair  was  begun.  My  left  lung  was  seri- 
ously involved.  Certificates  of  my  condition  went  forward 
at  regular  intervals  to  the  regiment,  and  on  the  fifth  of  the 
following  June  I  started  back  wearing  a  large  plaster  over 
my  left  lung,  and  reached  my  regiment  at  camp  in  East 
Tennessee,  three  miles  south  of  Cumberland  Gap,  Ken- 
tucky. 

' '  My  regiment  at  that  time  was  in  an  organization  desig- 
nated as  the  Seventh  Division  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
under  Brigadier  General  George  W.  Morgan,  of  Ohio.  The 
Confederates  had  seized  and  fortified  Cumberland  Gap, 
which  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  impregnable  strong- 
holds in  the  entire  zone  of  the  Civil  War.  General  Morgan 
made  an  assault  upon  the  Gap  from  the  Kentucky  side,  but 
was  repulsed.  His  little  army  of  ten  thousand  infantry 
and  artillery — having  been  organized  and  designed,  at  the 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  287 

specific  behest  of  President  Lincoln,  to  capture  and  hold 
Cumberland  Gap,  thought  by  Lincoln  to  be  one  of  the 
important  highways  between  the  North  and  the  South, 
General  Morgan  determined,  if  possible,  to  cross  the  moun- 
tain range  west  of  the  Gap  and  cut  off  the  Confederates 
and  starve  them  into  surrender. 

"But  the  Confederate  commander  at  the  Gap,  General 
Stevenson,  learning  that  Morgan  was  coming  up  Powell's 
Valley  south  of  him,  quickly  evacuated  the  Gap  and  escaped 
a  few  hours  before  Morgan's  force  came  up.  Stevenson, 
finding  that  Morgan's  army  was  smaller  than  his  and 
perceiving  that  he  had  been  outwitted  and  maneuvered 
out  of  his  stronghold,  now  set  his  face  toward  the  Gap, 
driving  us  from  our  camps  up  to  the  foothills  of  the  Gap, 
under  cover  of  our  artillery  in  the  fortifications.  But 
this  move  on  our  part,  did  not  deter  the  persistent  Con- 
federates, who  continued  their  attacks,  especially  under 
cover  of  darkness,  until  we  all  went  up  and  located  our- 
selves in  the  stronghold  so  recently  held  by  the  enemy. 

"Although  safe  from  Confederate  artillery  and  rifle 
shots,  Morgan  was  not  idle.  Trees  that  obstructed  artillery 
range  were  felled;  old  forts  were  strengthened  and  new 
ones  built ;  a  commissary  and  other  buildings  were  rapidly 
constructed  around  us  to  guard  against  surprise;  and  col- 
lisions with  the  enemy  at  different  points  were  of  almost 
daily  occurrence.  We  had  gotten  possession  of  that  noted 
gateway  so  much  desired  by  our  beloved  Commander-in- 
chief,  President  Lincoln,  and  we  felt  fully  able  to  hold  it, 
General  Morgan  expressing  this  thought  when  he  is  alleged 
to  have  said  in  a  message  to  Washington:  "Furnish  me 
with  supplies  and  I'll  hold  the, Gap  against  the  whole  Con- 


288  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

federate  army."  This  expression,  if  actually  made  by  our 
good  commander,  may  have  been  somewhat  extravagant. 
However,  Cumberland  Gap,  fortified  as  we  had  it,  was  at 
least  one  of  our  American  Gibraltars. 

"But  the  fortunes  of  war  are  often  fickle.  The  rapid 
advance  of  the  Union  arms  through  Tennessee  so  alarmed 
the  Confederacy  that  the  enemy  set  up  a  counter  movement 
at  once  by  sending  a  large  Confederate  army  into  Ken- 
tucky to  capture,  or  at  least  threaten,  Louisville  and  Cin- 
cinnati. This  invasion  of  Kentucky  cut  our  line  of  com- 
munication with  Washington  and  the  North  in  July,  1862. 
From  that  time  until  the  middle  of  September  we  were  on 
short  allowance  of  food  in  spite  of  the  limited  foraging  we 
were  able  to  do.  The  enemy  drew  closer  and  closer  on  our 
front  and  rear  until,  as  one  historian  [Headley]  expresses 
it,  we  were  practically  surrounded  by  one  hundred  thou- 
sand Confederate  soldiers. 

"General  Morgan  ascertained  through  engineers  and 
scouts  sent  out  by  him,  that  one  way,  leading  through  the 
rugged  hills  of  eastern  Kentucky,  was  not  yet  closed;  and 
he,  after  a  council  of  war  with  his  brigade  commanders, 
determined  to  try  to  reach  the  Ohio  River,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  to  the  north.  On  the  17th  of  September  the 
little  army  of  hungry  but  hopeful  soldiers  moved  down 
the  mountain  road  out  of  Cumberland  Gap.  The  great 
natural  rock  wall  along  the  winding  road  leading  up  to 
the  Gap  from  Tennessee,  had  been  mined,  and  all  the  gov- 
ernment buildings  covered  with  turpentine;  and  on  the 
night  of  the  17th  of  September,  a  small  detachment  of  men, 
left  to  wreck  things,  fired  the  mines  and  buildings.  My 
regiment,  the  Forty-ninth  Indiana,  the  last  to  leave  the 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  289 

Gap,  moved  rapidly  down  the  dark  mountain  road  about 
ten  o  'clock  at  night.  We  had  just  reached  the  sandy  road 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  when  the  mines  and  buildings 
in  the  Gap  were  fired.  A  grander  and  more  tragic  event 
I  have  never  seen  nor  heard.  The  mountains  fairly  shook 
with  the  awful  explosions  of  the  mines  and  the  heavens 
and  the  solemn  mountains  were  lit  up  with  weird  and  lurid 
sketches  of  hateful  war. 

''By  eight  o'clock  next  morning  we  were  fifteen  miles 
away  at  Cumberland  Ford  on  the  Cumberland  River. 
Here  we  halted  for  an  hour's  rest,  a  scanty  breakfast,  and 
a  general  lightening  up  by  discarding  part  of  our  indi- 
vidual loads.  Then  we  went  on  to  Manchester,  a  few  miles 
farther  away,  and  spent  a  night  and  day  in  refitting  and 
adjusting  for  the  long  perilous  march  that  stretched  away 
through  the  hill  country  that  lay  mockingly  between  us 
and  our  goal,  the  majestic  Ohio. 

' '  For  sixteen  days  we  continued  the  weary  march,  wad- 
ing rivers  and  creeks;  removing  blockades  of  trees  which 
had  been  felled  across  cuts  in  the  road  to  delay  the  progress 
of  our  artillery,  twenty-six  pieces  of  which  we  had  brought 
away  from  the  Gap ;  fighting  bush-whackers  and  guer- 
rillas; subsisting  almost  wholly  on  the  ripening  corn, 
acorns,  pawpaws,  and  an  occasional  saucy-looking  goose, 
pig,  or  calf;  and  at  times  pausing  long  enough  to  hastily 
bury  a  dead  comrade.  But  on  October  3  we  reached  with 
great  rejoicing  the  grand  old  Ohio,  practically  destitute  of 
everything  except  our  arms  and  ammunition.  Personally, 
I  had  gotten  rid  of  so  much  that,  when  our  march  ended, 
my  entire  possessions  consisted  of  a  blouse,  a  pair  of  badly 
worn  trousers,  a  pair  of  wrecked  shoes,  an  old  slouch  hat,  a 


290         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

gum-blanket,  haversack,  an  artilleryman's  saber  (which  I 
had  picked  up  and  carried  through),  and  my  fife.  I  was 
not  then  fit  to  play  an  acceptable  part  in  a  drawing-room 
of  that  day,  although  I  doubtless  would  have  caused  some 
astonishment,  if  not  consternation. 

"The  reader,  I  feel,  will  permit  a  little  digression  just 
here,  as  our  ragged  regiments  rest  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  River  Beautiful,  near  the  town  of  Sciotoville,  Ohio, 
while  I  recount  at  least  one  incident  of  that  hazardous 
retreat.  We  had  been  on  our  march  but  a  few  days  when 
we  reached  the  village  of  Proctor,  Kentucky.  At  this  place 
we  expected  to  get  some  flour  from  a  mill,  but  when 
within  a  mile  of  the  village  we  saw  a  great  smoke  shooting 
up  ahead  of  us,  which  proved  to  come  from  the  burning 
mill.  We  halted  near  the  village  and  shortly  thereafter 
countermarched  and  then  leaving  the  road  marched  a  short 
distance  along  a  hillside  and  took  up  a  position  just  in 
the  rear  of  the  batteries.  There  we  remained,  resting  in 
peace,  for  an  hour  or  two.  The  sun  was  nearing  the 
western  horizon  when,  apparently  realizing  some  myste- 
rious disappointment,  our  batteries  limbered  up  and 
wheeled  again  into  the  public  highway,  and  we  all  resumed 
the  march  northward. 

' '  Some  twenty  years  later  I  went  to  Little  Rock,  Arkan- 
sas, where  I  was  employed  in  editorial  work.  I  had  been 
there  but  a  short  time  when  my  employer  observed  that 
I  had  been  what  he  called  a  "Yankee"  soldier,  and  in- 
formed me  that  he  had  served  the  Confederacy.  Pursuing 
this  subject  he  asked  where  I  had  served.  Advising  him 
that  I  was  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  and  for  some  time 
at  Cumberland  Gap,  he  quickly  asked  whether  I  was  at 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  291 

the  Gap  under  "Yankee"  Morgan.  Assuring  him  that  I 
was,  he  then  asked  whether  I  came  out  with  Morgan  on 
his  retreat  northward.  I  told  him  that  I  did.  He  then 
stated  that  he  was  under  the  Confederate  General,  Hum- 
phrey Marshall,  who  was  sent  across  Kentucky  to  cut  off 
that  retreat.  I  asked  him  whether  they  expected  to  meet 
us  at  Proctor,  Kentucky.  He  said  they  did.  I  then  told 
him  that  we  formed  a  line  of  battle  and  waited  for  him  a 
few  hours,  and  then  went  on  northward.  Whereupon  the 
ex- Confederate  said  that  when  they  reached  Proctor  they 
learned  that  we  had  been  gone  northward  about  two  hours, 
and  that  they,  being  exhausted  from  hard  marching, 
stopped  and  bivouacked  for  the  night.  I  then  exclaimed : 
'  I  am  certainly  glad  of  it ! '  And  he,  with  a  generous  smile, 
responded :     '  So  were  we  ! ' 

"This  true  incident  illustrates  how  little  those  in  the 
battle-line  know  of  their  environments  and  what  to  expect. 
For  twenty  years  I  was  ignorant  of  the  dreadful  truth  of 
what  our  battle-line  at  Proctor  really  meant. 

' '  But  to  resume  my  story :  After  remaining  near 
Sciotoville,  Ohio,  several  days,  during  which  time  generous 
supplies  of  food  reached  us  from  Cincinnati,  and  a  partial 
outfit  of  clothing,  consisting  of  shirts,  trousers,  socks,  shoes 
and  hats,  we  were  ordered  into  West  Virginia,  whither  we 
went,  marching  up  the  Kanawha  Valley  from  Point  Pleas- 
ant. On  the  morning  of  the  second  day  it  began  to  rain, 
a  cold  wave  struck  us,  and  at  noon  snow  began  falling. 
We  were  again  in  a  predicament.  Without  coats  of  any 
kind,  drenched  with  rain  and  snow,  and  chilled  to  the  bone, 
onward  we  trudged  through  the  inhospitable  slush.  A 
while  before  night  we  stopped  to  bivouac ;  made  fires,  built 


292  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

rail  pens  and  put  straw  into  them,  ate  supper  (each  man 
cooking  for  himself)  and  then  huddling  together  in  the 
straw  put  in  a  miserable  night  trying  to  keep  warm  and 
get  some  sleep.  Next  morning  we  arose  early  and  marched 
to  a  little  village  called  Buffalo,  and  went  into  such  houses 
there  as  we  found  not  occupied,  which  was  true  of  the 
greater  part  of  them. 

"There  we  remained  until  tents  and  the  rest  of  our 
clothing  (blouses  and  overcoats)  reached  us,  and  then  we 
went  on  to  a  village  called  Coal's  Mouth,  where  we  re- 
mained two  or  three  weeks  watching  the  Virginia  guerrilla 
chief,  Colonel  John  Mosby.  We  then  were  ordered  back 
to  Point  Pleasant,  (now)  West  Virginia,  where  we  em- 
barked on  an  Ohio  River  transport  for  Vicksburg,  Miss. 
Our  steamer  was  dreadfully  overcrowded,  but  on  reaching 
Cincinnati,  where  we  lay  over  for  one  day,  our  regiment 
was  divided  and  each  of  the  two  battalions  was  given  a 
boat  (the  boats  as  I  recall  it  now,  were  the  Sunny  side  and 
the  New  York).  This  change  made  the  voyage  much  more 
pleasant. 

"On  account  of  a  low  stage  of  water  the  boats  were  not 
allowed  to  run  at  night,  but  were  anchored  in  the  river 
some  distance  from  the  shore.  This  precaution  was 
thought  necessary  to  keep  the  soldiers  from  leaving  the 
boat,  for  it  was  well  known  that  the  soldiers  were  anxious 
to  visit  their  homes,  which  the  steamers  would  soon  pass. 
While  anchored  some  distance  above  the  Ohio  Falls,  a  pro- 
test by  the  soldiers  reached  a  mutinous  stage  and  they 
threatened  to  raise  the  anchor,  cut  the  tiller-ropes,  and  let 
the  vessel  drift  over  the  falls.  Major  Thornton,  in  com- 
mand of  the  vessel  I  was  on,  learned  of  the  threat  and 


TUB  CIVIL  WAR  293 

promptly  came  down  the  stairway,  pistol  in  hand,  and 
addressing  the  men,  commanded  them  to  desist  from  their 
evil  purpose,  promising  that  on  reaching  New  Albany  he 
would  telegraph  Governor  Morton  concerning  permission 
for  them  to  make  a  short  visit  home.  Our  boat  landed  at 
New  Albany  and  the  Major  went  up  town  but  soon  re- 
turned with  the  statement  that  no  delay  could  be  permitted 
by  the  state. 

"We  steamed  ahead  till  sundown,  when  the  vessel  was 
again  anchored,  but  this  time,  as  the  soldiers  ascertained, 
rather  close  to  the  Kentucky  side.  Some  of  the  men,  taking 
the  risk,  ran  across  the  boat-deck  and  leaped  off,  striking 
the  sand  and  disappearing  in  the  dark.  These  venture- 
some comrades,  waiting  till  daylight,  found  means  of 
crossing  to  the  Indiana  side  of  the  river,  whence  they  went 
home  for  a  short  visit.  I,  being  a  mere  boy  and  of  a 
reticent  nature,  was  ignored  in  all  these  matters. 

"The  next  day  we  hove  in  sight  of  Leavenworth.  The 
town  front  was  lined  with  anxious,  flag-waving,  rejoicing 
friends,  and  a  solitary  little  cannon  was  booming  a  welcome 
to  the  boys  of  the  'bloody  Forty-ninth.'  Our  Captain  had 
told  us  that,  while  it  had  been  impossible  to  get  official 
leave  for  a  home  visit,  he  was  sure  that  if  any  went  home 
for  a  few  days,  and  then  came  on  to  the  regiment,  it  would 
be  all  right.  Our  Major  and  most  of  our  company  officers 
were  residents  of  Leavenworth.  I  stood  on  the  bow  of  the 
boat  looking  in  vain  to  see  some  recognizable  face  in  the 
great  crowd  there.  The  officers  and  dozens  of  men  left 
the  boat  and  mingled  with  the  crowd.  I  saw  no  one  I 
knew,  and,  having  a  letter  which  I  had  written  on  the  boat, 


294  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

I  also  left  the  boat  and  went  up  Nelson  Street  searching 
for  the  postoffice. 

' '  I  had  not  gone  very  far  when  three  of  my  mess-mates — 
the  Crane  brothers — overtook  me  and  called  ont :  'Come  on, 
John!'  I  asked  where  they  were  going  and  they  said,: 
'Up  here.'  I  followed  them,  saying:  'I  know  you're  going 
to  get  some  beer,'  for  I  knew  that  a  small  distillery  was 
located  near  the  'big  spring,'  just  back  of  Leavenworth. 
My  comrades  did  not  stop  at  the  distillery,  but  starting  up 
the  hill  road  told  me  they  were  going  home  for  a  visit. 
While  I  had  not  meditated  such  a  venture,  I  was  not  averse 
to  such  a  visit.  We  kept  together  until  we  reached  the 
forks  of  the  road  at  the  Mansfield  place,  where  we  paused 
for  a  few  moments  and  agreed  to  meet  again  in  ten  days  at 
Leavenworth,  to  follow  up  the  regiment,  and  then  we  sep- 
arated, they  going  toward  Grantsburg,  while  I  went  north- 
ward to  Marengo. 

"This  move  was  not  premeditated  on  my  part,  yet  I 
was  glad  to  see  my  folks  and  be  at  home.  But  in  a  short 
time  I  was  prostrated  with  malarial  fever.  This  I  had 
contracted  from  exposure  on  the  boat,  where  I  slept  during 
those  cold  November  nights  anywhere  on  the  fog-enveloped 
boat,  from  the  hurricane-deck  to  a  pallet  of  poles  and 
camp-kettles  in  a  barge  beside  the  anchored  steamer.  My 
ten-day  agreement  with  my  comrades,  the  Crane  boys, 
expired  while  I  was  confined  in  bed  by  serious  illness.  Cer- 
tificates from  my  physician  were  forwarded  promptly  and 
regularly  to  my  Captain,  to  which  he  responded,  urging  me 
to  come  on  to  the  regiment  as  soon  as  possible,  and  saying 
that  he  would  protect  me  from  any  possible  trouble. 

"Early   in  January,   1863,   I   attempted  to   go   to   my 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  295 

regiment  in  company  with  Columbus  Taylor,  a  neighbor, 
who  was  returning  to  his  regiment  after  a  furlough.  Tay- 
lor and  I  were  taken  to  Paoli  on  horses,  and  from  that  point 
we  went  on  to  the  residence  of  a  comrade,  Lindley,  who, 
Taylor  said,  had  transportation  for  soldiers  returning  to 
their  commands.  We  found  Lindley  sick  and  were  ad- 
vised by  him  to  return  home  and  wait  a  week  and  then 
come  again.  We  started  back  on  a  seventeen  mile  tramp 
through  slush  over  a  rough  road.  I  had  walked  but  a  few 
miles  when  my  physical  strength  gave  way,  and  my  left 
lung,  which  had  been  seriously  affected  by  pneumonia, 
began  to  bleed.  Taylor  relieved  me  of  my  little  load,  tell- 
ing me  that  I  was  in  no  condition  to  return  to  active  duty 
with  my  regiment,  and  advised  me  to  write  to  Laz  Noble, 
then  Adjutant  General  of  Indiana,  setting  forth  my  con- 
dition and  the  circumstances  under  which  I  was  absent 
from  my  regiment  and  asking  for  advice. 

"The  Adjutant  General  replied  promptly,  sending  me 
official  leave  of  absence  for  twenty  days  and  directing  me 
to  report  at  the  expiration  of  the  leave  of  absence  to  the 
nearest  hospital  post.  This  I  did  by  reporting  to  Major 
Fry,  Commandant  of  the  New  Albany  Hospital  post.  My 
father  accompanied  me  thither  and  succeeded  in  having 
me  examined  for  discharge.  The  board  of  surgeons  de- 
cided that  I  was  not  fit  for  duty  in  the  field  and  that  I 
should  not  be  sent  there,  but  that  I  might  be  of  good  serv- 
ice in  some  hospital  of  that  post.  I  was  accordingly  sent 
to  Hospital  No.  5  and  assigned  to  light  duties,  such  as 
sweeping  the  walks  and  aiding  the  quartermaster  in  pro- 
viding rations  for  the  men  there. 

"That  hospital  was  in   charge   of   a  civilian  surgeon, 


296         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Doctor  Pleasant  Shields,  who  seemed  to  fear  that  he  might 
lose  his  job.  At  weekly  intervals  he  had  the  convalescents 
line  upon  the  pavement  for  physical  examination,  to  ascer- 
tain who  might  be  sent  to  their  regiments  at  the  front.  I, 
thinking  it  my  duty  to  get  into  that  line,  was  twice  marked 
to  be  sent  to  my  regiment.  Each  time  Major  Fry  struck 
my  name  from  the  list  sent  him,  and  on  the  second  occasion 
rebuked  the  surgeon  of  my  hospital.  Peeved  at  this,  the 
surgeon  began  to  find  fault,  privately,  with  the  work  I 
was  doing  about  the  hospital.  Learning  of  this,  I  wrote 
to  my  father,  telling  him  of  these  facts,  and  vowing  that 
I  didn't  enlist  to  sweep  walks,  and  was  now  determined  to 
go  to  my  regiment.  My  father,  feeling  that  I  could  not 
long  survive  in  the  swamps  at  Milliken's  Bend,  near  Vicks- 
burg,  and  knowing  my  enlistment  was  not  in  accord  with 
his  expressed  wishes,  came  promptly  to  New  Albany,  bring- 
ing with  him  an  efficient  witness,  and  immediately  in- 
voked a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  to  secure  my  release  from 
the  United  States  military  service  on  the  ground  of  minor- 
ity. The  case  was  tried  at  once  in  the  civil  court  there, 
and  I  was  discharged  June  30,  1863.  The  original  copy 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  releasing  me  from  the  military 
service  is  now  on  file  in  the  War  Department,  and  a  veri- 
fied copy  of  the  court  record  at  New  Albany,  Floyd 
County,  Indiana,  the  same  being  a  duplicate  of  the  original 
habeas  corpus  action,  is  now  in  my  possession. 

"The  Captain  of  Company  F,  Forty-ninth  Indiana 
Infantry  was  fully  advised  at  all  times  of  my  condition 
and  whereabouts,  and,  in  response  to  my  request,  sent  me, 
while  in  the  New  Albany  hospital,  my  descriptive  list  and 
payroll,  which  enabled  me  to  draw  pay  due  me,  thus  recog- 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  297 

nizing  my  acceptable  continued  connection  with  the  mili- 
tary service.  I  have  now  in  my  possession  a  certified 
transcript  of  my  service  record  in  the  Forty-ninth  Indiana 
Infantry  on  file  in  the  Adjutant  General's  office  of  Indiana, 
showing  that  I  was  enlisted  in  Company  F  of  said  regi- 
ment, November  19,  1861,  and  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service  four  days  later  (November  3)  and  dis- 
charged from  said  service  at  New  Albany,  Indiana,  June 
30,  1863. 

"While  I  was  at  New  Albany  the  rebel  Captain  Hines 
made  a  raid  into  Indiana,  passing  through  Crawford 
County  and  escaping  with  part  of  his  company  via  the 
Blue  River  Island  in  the  Ohio  just  above  Leavenworth. 
Report  of  the  daring  raid  excited  me  to  a  high  pitch,  so 
when  a  report  came  a  few  days  later  that  a  large  force  of 
rebel  cavalry  had  entered  our  state  via  Flint  Island,  and 
a  call  for  all  soldiers  at  New  Albany  able  to  carry  muskets 
to  go  by  train  to  Orleans  to  meet  and  help  repel  the  in- 
vaders, I  went  as  one  of  the  four  hundred  that  were  gath- 
ered up  at  New  Albany. 

"At  Orleans,  Orange  County,  we  were  furnished  some- 
thing to  eat,  after  which  we  impressel  horses  that  had  been 
ridden  into  town  by  the  excited  farmers  and  went  promptly 
southward  eight  miles  to  Paoli.  A  heavy  dust  covered  the 
road  and  we  were  literally  enveloped  in  clouds  of  it 
throughout  that  march.  We  bivouacked  in  the  Paoli  fair- 
ground; and,  although  it  was  June,  the  night  was  very 
cool,  and  in  spite  of  the  little  fires  made  we,  lying  in  the 
grass  without  other  covering  than  our  clothing,  actually 
suffered.  Next  morning  we  learned  that  the  alleged  second 
invasion   was   a   false   report,    and   we    returned   to    New 


298         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Albany.  The  exposure  of  that  little  campaign  again 
brought  on  my  lung  trouble,  which  confined  me  for  several 
days  to  my  hospital  bed. 

"I  reached  home  with  my  father  about  July  3,  1863,  and 
five  days  later  a  report  reached  us  that  the  rebel  General, 
John  H.  Morgan,  was  crossing  the  Ohio  at  Brandenburg, 
Kentucky,  with  about  five  thousand  of  his  seasoned  cav- 
alry, for  a  devastating  raid  through  Indiana.  General 
Hobson  was  following  Morgan  with  a  cavalry  force  of 
Federal  troops  numbering  four  or  five  thousand.  But 
Hobson  was  at  least  a  day's  march  behind  Morgan.  A 
general  order  was  issued  by  Governor  Morton  calling  out 
the  Indiana  Legion,  the  organized  militia  of  the  state, 
which  was  at  that  time  about  sixty  thousand  strong.  The 
Marengo  Light  Guards  (the  militia  company  at  Marengo) 
under  Captain  I.  H.  Girdner,  were  quickly  assembled  by 
bass  drum  beating  and  anvil  firing.  My  father,  an  officer 
in  the  company,  asked  me  whether  I  wanted  to  go.  'Cer- 
tainly,' said  I,  'I'd  as  soon  fight  rebels  on  Indiana  soil  as 
anywhere  else.'  He  then  told  me  to  get  a  horse  and  come 
with  him.  That  night  we  bivouacked  at  Leavenworth,  and 
the  captain  gave  me  a  detail  of  seven  men  to  picket  the 
Mauckport  road  near  the  Blue  River  bridge.  Next  morn- 
ing our  Marengo  company  was  divided — those  on  foot 
were  sent,  under  command  of  my  father,  Captain  Enoch 
Weathers,  on  the  road  to  New  Albany,  while  we  who  were 
mounted  remained  with  Captain  Girdner  and  went  with 
the  mounted  force,  commanded  (as  I  recall  it)  by  a  Major 
of  the  Frist  Indiana  Cavalry,  who  happened  to  be  at  his 
home  in  Leavenworth  on  leave  of  absence. 

' '  We  pushed  on  toward  Cory  don,  and  when  within  two 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  299 

or  three  miles  of  that  town,  we  heard  rapid  firing  of 
artilleiy.  We  were  halted  half  a  mile  from  town  and  two 
men  (scouts)  were  sent  forward  to  take  a  look  at  what  was 
going  on  in  Corydon.  The  scouts  soon  came  galloping 
back,  with  a  report  saying  that  the  town  was  literally 
crowded  with  cavalrymen  galloping  hither  and  thither. 
We  were  then  ordered  to  countermarch.  After  going  a 
short  distance,  we  turned  to  the  right  and  rode  single  file 
along  a  path  that  led  through  the  woods  to  another  road 
leading  to  Corydon.  Forming  and  turning  toward  the 
captured  town,  we  went  almost  in  sight  of  it,  and  halted 
to  bivouac. 

"Next  morning  we  went  into  the  wrecked  first  capital 
of  Indiana,  which  the  Confederates  had  left  during  the 
night  on  their  way  to  Salem.  Soon  after  our  entry  into 
Corydon  General  Hobson's  command  came  in,  and  we 
again  pushed  on  after  Morgan.  We  entered  Salem  shortly 
after  midnight  and  learned  that  Morgan,  after  burning  the 
railroad  station  and  relieving  the  bank  of  its  accumulation 
of  "filthy  lucre,"  had  departed  eastward.  Catching  a 
little  sleep,  getting  some  food  from  the  good  people  there, 
and  replacing  our  lame  horses  with  such  as  we  could 
readily  secure,  we  again  took  up  the  trail,  now  leading 
eastward. 

"Onward  we  pressed  along  dusty  roads,  through  Lex- 
ington, Versailles,  North  Vernon,  Milan,  and  on,  almost 
night  and  day,  till  we  reached  the  Whitewater  River,  sep- 
arating our  state  from  Ohio,  at  a  point  opposite  Harrison, 
Ohio,  but  there  found  the  long  covered  wooden  bridge 
across  the  river  wrapped  in  flames.  We  saw  many  Con- 
federate soldiers  galloping  through  the  streets  of  Harrison, 


300         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

but  we  were  blocked.  Soon,  however,  a  citizen  of  that 
community  led  us  up  the  river  about  half  a  mile  to  a  ford 
in  the  river,  along  which  we  pushed  to  the  distressed  town, 
but  from  which  the  rebel  rear-guard  had  just  departed. 
Here  we  remained  over  night.  Next  day  the  Indiana 
militiamen  turned  back  homeward,  leaving  Morgan  and 
his  men  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Buckeye  militia,  Hob- 
son's  weary  troopers,  and  the  vicious  little  gunboats 
patroling  the  Ohio  on  a  vigilant  outlook  for  the  daring 
rebel  invaders.  The  Marengo  Light  Guards  were  later 
paid  $5.50  each  for  those  mounted  in  that  short  but  rigor- 
ous campaign,  I  being  one  of  the  recipients  of  that  emolu- 
ment, this  amount,  at  fifty  cents  a  day,  showing  that  our 
campaign  lasted  eleven  days. 

"While  at  home  I  was  almost  constantly  concerned 
in  activities  arising  from  that  great  war,  cooperating 
usually  with  detachments  of  our  active  militia  company. 
We  were  sent  at  one  time  into  Harrison  County  in  search 
of  desperate  deserters  from  the  Federal  Army.  We  were 
constantly  on  the  outlook  for  Colonel  Bowles,  one  of  the 
leading  spirits  of  the  treasonable  organization  known  as 
'Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle.'  We  conducted  a  cam- 
paign of  four  days  in  Crawford  County  against  the 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  who  had  risen  up  in  hostile 
destructive  demonstration  against  the  conduct  of  national 
authorities  in  prosecuting  the  war  against  disunion.  On 
one  occasion  a  number  of  us  went  to  Milltown  to  protect 
a  Major  in  filling  his  appointment  to  make  an  authorized 
Federal   recruiting   speech. 

"About  December,  1864,  the  President  made  a  call  for 
many  new  regiments  for  a  service  of  one  year,  unless  sooner 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  301 

discharged.  Emery  P.  Toney,  of  near  English,  Crawford 
County,  who  was  my  Lieutenant  in  the  Forty-ninth  Indi- 
ana Infantry,  got  busy  recruiting  a  company  under  the 
new  call.  Meeting  me  at  Marengo,  he  asked  if  I  didn't  want 
to  try  it  again.  I  assured  him  that  I  did;  and  he  prom- 
ised to  make  me  a  company  musician.  Then  I  again  be- 
sieged my  parents  for  permission  to  enlist,  for  I  was  not 
yet  eighteen  years  of  age.  They,  especially  my  mother, 
strongly  opposed  the  proposition.  I  pleaded  that  the  Con- 
federacy was  a  mere  shell  at  that  time  and  I  wanted  to  be 
present  when  it  collapsed.  I  finally  prevailed,  and  on  the 
ninth  of  February,  1865,  our  company,  D,  of  the  144th 
Indiana  Infantry  was  mustered  into  the  service  at  Camp 
Carrington,  Indianapolis.  In  March  we  were  sent  to  Har- 
per's Ferry,  West  Virginia,  and  thence  up  the  Shenan- 
doah Valley.  Here  a  fine  army  of  one  year  volunteers, 
mostly  from  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Illinois,  was  organized 
under  Major  General  Hancock. 

"In  April  that  fine  army  moved  up  the  valley  toward 
Richmond,  the  rebel  capital.  At  the  end  of  the  second 
day's  march,  when  we  had  halted  to  bivouac,  an  orderly 
galloped  up  to  our  Colonel  and  handed  him  a  message. 
After  examining  the  message,  he  called  us  to  attention  and 
read  the  same  to  us,  which  announced  the  fall  of  Peters- 
burg, the  strong  defenses  of  Richmond.  We  threw  our 
caps  high  in  the  air  and  the  valley  around  Winchester 
resounded  with  our  joyous  cheers,  for  we  knew  that  the 
rebellion  was  crushed.  We  went  no  farther  south.  Lee 
surrendered  on  April  9,  and  our  noble  President  Lincoln 
was  assassinated  five  days  later. 

"A  message  announcing  that  awful  event  came  to  us 


302         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

within  an  hour  after  the  fatal  shot  was  fired.  The  regi- 
ment was  called  up  and  our  Colonel,  George  W.  Riddle, 
read  the  crushing  message.  We  felt  that  the  cowardly  act 
had  been  inspired  by  the  malevolence  of  a  prostrate  enemy. 
Next  morning  a  message  came  from  the  War  Department, 
ordering  that  any  soldier  heard  to  express  gratification  at 
the  death  of  President  Lincoln  should  be  arrested  and 
immediately  tried  by  court-martial,  and,  if  found  guilty, 
shot  to  death.  Before  noon  a  man  of  the  150th  Indiana 
Infantry,  camping  beside  us,  was  heard  to  say  that  he 
thought  the  war  would  have  closed  earlier  if  Lincoln's 
death  had  occurred  sooner.  This  was  enough.  He  was 
arrested,  tried,  and  found  guilty,  and  the  fact  reported  to 
Washington.  The  War  Secretary  wired  a  modification  of 
his  first  order,  by  directing  that  the  soldier  should  be 
stripped  of  his  uniform,  clad  in  citizen  garments,  and 
drummed  out  of  the  service.  The  order  was  obeyed  by 
drumming  the  unwise  young  man  out  of  the  service,  our 
combined  drum-corps  officiating,  playing  the  Rogue's 
March. 

' '  Our  drum  major  having  failed  to  return  from  leave  of 
absence,  I  was  promoted  to  a  position  on  Colonel  Riddle's 
staff,  as  principal  musician  of  the  144th  Indiana  Infantry. 

"Our  discharge  certificates  were  made  out  and  dated 
August  5,  1865,  and  soon  thereafter  we  were  loaded  into 
freight  cars,  like  those  used  in  bringing  us  eastward,  and 
carried  to  Indianapolis,  where  we  were  paid  off  in  full  up 
to  August  15,  1865,  (the  only  pay  day  we  had  during  that 
service  of  six  months.  Pay  of  soldiers  was  withheld  after 
the   war    closed   until   they   were    discharged,    this   being 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  303 

thought  necessary  to  keep  the  soldiers  from  going  home 
before  the  formal  muster-out). 

' '  Soldiers  of  the  Civil  War  had  learned  valuable  lessons 
of  independence,  so  after  a  few  days'  rest  and  talk  with 
those  who  welcomed  their  return  home,  they  went  to  work 
at  some  profitable  activity.  Soon  after  my  return  I  en- 
tered Indiana  University  (January  2,  1866).  While  there 
I  was,  for  a  short  time,  a  member  of  a  military  company  at 
the  university.  But  finding  this  unprofitable,  I  got  out  of 
it,  that  I  might  have  more  time  for  study  and  bachelor- 
hall  requirements. 

"About  the  year  1872,  while  I  was  teaching  in  the  Ma- 
rengo Academy,  a  party  committee  at  Leavenworth  (the 
county  seat  at  that  time)  asked  me  to  allow  my  name  to 
go  before  an  approaching  convention  as  a  candidate  for  the 
State  Legislature.  I  consented,  but  when  at  the  convention 
my  name  was  suggested,  a  rival  objected,  saying  that  a 
'History  of  Indiana  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,'  just  out, 
showed  that  I  was  a  'deserter'  from  Company  F,  Forty- 
ninth  Indiana  Infantry.  This  was  shocking  news  to  me, 
as  well  as  my  father  and  other  friends.  My  father,  at  an 
early  date,  called  upon  the  Captain  of  my  company  in 
the  Forty-ninth  Indiana  and  asked  him  to  explain  that 
vicious  record.  The  Captain  stated  that  the  charge  of 
'deserter'  was  entered  against  me  and  sent  off  in  his 
bi-monthly  report  before  he  learned  of  my  inability  by 
reason  of  sickness  to  follow  the  regiment ;  that  others,  who 
had  left  the  boat  at  Leavenworth  when  I  did,  went  home 
for  a  few  days,  and  then  came  back  to  the  regiment,  had 
been  freely  exonerated;  and  that  the  obnoxious  record 
against  me  had  gone  hurriedly  into  this  state  history,  but 


304         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

was  not  in  the  War  Department  records  at  Washington, 
D.  C. 

"The  matter  quieted  down,  and  for  ten  years  I  heard 
nothing  more  of  it.  But  while  I  was  engaged  at  school 
work  at  Cannelton,  Perry  County,  about  1882,  my  father, 
speaking  of  the  fact  that  many  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War 
were  applying  for  pensions,  asked  me  why  I  didn't  apply, 
assuring  me  that  I  could  easily  establish  a  good  claim. 
I  told  him  I  was  able  to  teach  and  make  a  living  in  that 
way  and  that  the  nation  was  deeply  involved  in  debt.  He 
said  that  should  cut  no  figure  in  my  case,  and  asked  me  to 
meet  him  at  Leavenworth  some  day  soon  and  sign  my  name 
to  an  application.  I  did  so,  and  soon  received  a  state- 
ment from  the  Pension  Office  advising  that  nothing  further 
could  be  done  until  a  charge  of  'desertion'  was  removed 
from  my  War  Department  record. 

"Here  I  received  my  second  shock.  I  wrote  immedi- 
ately to  the  War  Department,  protesting  against  the  false 
record.  In  response  to  this  I  was  asked  to  explain  my 
whereabouts   after   November   25,   1862. 

"I  promptly  complied  with  this  call  and  explained  in 
detail  each  of  my  movements  up  to  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War.  In  a  short  time  I  received  a  certificate  of  exoneration 
from  the  erroneous  record,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
exact  copy: 

"  'War  Department,  Adjutant  General's  Office, 

"  'Washington,  April  14,  1886. 
"  'John  R.  Weathers,  New  Albany,  Indiana. 

"  'Sir:  Referring  to  the  application  for  removal  of 
charges  of  desertion  and  absence  without  leave  of  Novem- 


THE  CIVIL  WAR  305 

ber  24  and  25,  1862,  standing  against  your  record  as  of 
Company  F,  Forty-ninth  Indiana  Volunteers,  I  have  the 
honor  to  inform  you  that,  as  an  investigation  of  the  case 
has  established  that  said  charge  was  erroneously  made,  it 
has  been  removed  from  your  record  in  this  office,  and  your 
record  has  been  changed  to  show  that  you  were  discharged 
upon  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus,  June  30,  1863,  while  in  No.  5 
General  Hospital,  New  Albany,  Indiana. 

"  'Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  '0.  D.  Greene,  Asst.  Adjt.  General.'  " 

''Soon  after  getting  this  exonerating  certificate,  I  re- 
ceived a  pension  for  disease  of  the  lungs.  But,  while  the 
false  charge  of  record  against  me  was  promptly  expunged 
at  Washington  and  Indianapolis,  yet  it  still  stands  in  the 
early  published  'History  of  Indiana  in  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion,'  and  must,  of  course,  continue  until  that  history 
shall  have  been  revised  and  republished. 

"During  my  years  of  work  in  the  Bureau  of  Pensions 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  I  personally  learned  of  scores  of 
erroneous  'desertion'  records  against  volunteers  of  the 
Civil  War,  some  of  these  charges  having  been  made  against 
brave  men  who,  though  unaccounted  for  soon  after  an  en- 
gagement with  the  enemy,  had  actually  been  captured  and 
carried  away  to  some  rebel  prison.  Much  and  great  in- 
justice was  done  faithful  volunteer  soldiers  during  the 
Civil  War  by  hasty,  petulant,  or  ill-advised  reports  for- 
warded to  Washington  by  company  officers. 

' '  In  order  to  make  complete  this  epitome  of  my  military 
career  and  aspirations,  it  is  proper  to  add  that  in  1889  I  en- 
listed and  became  First  Lieutenant  in  a  company  of  Na- 


306  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

tional  Guard  at  New  Albany,  Indiana,  from  which  after 
activities  of  a  week's  encampment  at  Camp  Hovey,  near 
Indianapolis,  in  1890,  I  resigned  to  enter  the  Federal 
civil  service  at  Washington,  D.  C,  and  that,  while  so  em- 
ployed, I  tendered  my  service  to  the  Governor  of  Indiana 
on  the  second  call  for  troops  in  the  War  with  Spain,  which 
was  declined  by  the  Governor  on  the  ground  that  the  Presi- 
dential call  did  not  necessitate  new  organizations  but  was 
simply  for  replenishing  with  recruits  from  Indiana.  Even 
now,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  while  physically  unable  to 
do  much  'hiking,'  I  would  not  hesitate  to  enter,  if  neces- 
sary, any  military  line  of  defense  against  rebellion  or 
invasion  of  our  country. 

"I  trust  that  the  foregoing  sketch  of  the  vicissitudes 
and  trials  of  probably  the  youngest  Crawford  County  lad 
to  wear  the  Federal  blue  in  the  greatest  of  American  wars, 
may  be  accepted  as  a  true  recital.  My  sole  thought  and 
purpose  throughout  that  terrible  conflict  was  to  serve  my 
country  usefully  and  creditably.  I  am  therefore  truly 
thankful  for  this  providential  opportunity  to  set  forth  in 
this  new  history  facts  in  defense  of  my  honor  and  repute 
as  a  Hoosier  volunteer  in  the  sixties. 

"Looking  back  through  the  vista  of  a  long  life  of 
earnest  and  hopeful  endeavor,  I  feel  that  the  famous  poet 
of  the  Avon  spoke  wisely  when  he  said:  'There  is  a 
divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  rough  hew  them  as  we 
may.' 

"John  Richard  Weathers. 
"April  9,  1923." 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE     SEVENTIES 


Much  agitation  during  the  late  sixties  and  the  early 
seventies  existed  in  Crawford  County  relative  to  the  rail- 
road surveys  which  were  made.  Two  of  these  surveys 
crossed  Crawford  County. 

It  was  the  purpose  of  the  company  to  get  each  county 
to  take  so  much  stock  or  donate  to  the  railroad  company  so 
much  to  help  build  the  road.  The  first  proposition  was 
submitted  to  the  board  of  commissioners  on  September  11, 
1869,  by  John  S.  Sandrom.  The  petition  read:  We,  the 
undersigned  residents  of  Crawford  County,  do  hereby  peti- 
tion the  Honorable  Board  of  Commissioners  to  order  an 
election  held  in  Crawford  County  to  see  whether  the  people 
wish  to  buy  $32,000  worth  of  the  railroad  stock.  The 
election  to  be  held  at  the  various  voting  precincts  of  the 
county.  The  stock  was  to  be  bought  when  the  road  was 
complete  and  the  first  train  run  over  it. 

NAMES 

Sam  Eoberson  Thomas  Myler 

John  Bell  D.  McFarland 

N.  Hendricks  J.  B.  Robinson 

John  Martin  John  W.   Cosby 

V.  T.  Froman  William  Seaton 

Daniel  Grant  Thomas  Roberts 

307 


308 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


Joseph  Byrd 
Anderson  Day 
Sam  Hatfield 
Labon  Gregory 
James  Brock 
W.  R.  Seaton 
George  Goodson 
W.  L.  Seacat 
S.  R.  Jenner 
Stephen  Roberson 
G.  W.  Summers 
H.  C.  Roberson 
G.  W.  Roberson 
N.  Straughn 
William  Landiss 
J.  K.  Landiss 
Joseph  Landiss 
Elijah  Roberson 
Jerud  Leonard 
Albert  Biry 
William  Riggle 
J.  W.  Seaton 
Tom  Rook 
C.  J.  Myler 
John  Gregory 
Amos  Atkins 
Franklin  Vandever 
George  Roberson 
Martin  Wise 
William  L.  Edrington 
William  Froman 
John  Roberson 
James  H.  Seaton 
M.  Benham 
Richard  Parker 
James  Hughes 
John  Temple 


Henry  Goodson 
Milton  Day 
David  Benham 
John  M.  Benham 
Jonathan  Connovan 
Jeremiah  Belcher 
David  Roberson 
Henry  Wiser 
John  Gilliland 
Henry  Arwick 
E.  B.  Elliott 
William  Mansfield 
H.  Roberson 
George  W.  Riddle 
William  Williams 
Alfred  Romine 
W.   H.  Peckinpaugh 
J.  J.  McCallister 
G.  C.  Caldwell 
William  McCullum 
Sam  Shaffer 
Frederick  Saltsgaver 
Daniel  Shafer 
John  McCartney 
William  Lynch 
Ambrose  Tower 
William  Haga 
Alfred  Bybee 
Nathan  Huff 
John   Bunch 
W.  W.  Conrad 
John  S.  Whitten 
J.  Sanerheber 
J.  R.  Carnes 
Joseph  B.  Roberson 
J.  J.  Clark 
E.  R.  Hawn 


THE  SEVENTIES  309 

J.  R.  Caldwell  G.  W.  Behen 

C.  S.  Land  James  McLain 

M.  Monk  William  McLain 

W.  L.  Temple  James  Shaw 

Jackson  Goldman  John  Shaffer 

Nicholas  Coleman  George  Saltsgaver 

William  Sauerhieber  Sam  Shaffer 

William  Saltsgaver  John  J.  Flock 

William  Sisson  James  Archibald 

Henry  Baker  Andrew  Tower 

Franklin  Scott  John  Roberson 

Henry  A.  Rothrock  Emery  Behen 

N.  P.  Rothrock  George  Shaffer 

H.  M.  Rothrock  William  Monaghan 

The  board  being  fully  satisfied  that  one  hundred  of  the 
list  were  freeholders,  and  being  fully  advised  in  the  matter, 
ordered  an  election  held  throughout  the  county  on  Novem- 
ber 1,  1869,  to  see  if  the  people  wished  to  buy  the  bonds. 

The  auditor  gave  due  notice  to  the  voters  of  said  elec- 
tion, of  which  this  is  a  copy :   . 

RAILROAD  ELECTION 

To  the  qualified  voters  of  Crawford  County :  You  are 
hereby  notified  that  the  polls  will  be  open  at  the  usual 
places  in  the  various  townships  on  Monday,  November  1, 
1869,  to  take  a  vote  on  the  subject  of  said  county  aiding  in 
the  construction  of  the  New  Albany  and  St.  Louis  Air  Line 
Railroad  by  taking  $32,000  worth  of  stock. 

Witness  my  hand  and  seal  this  13th  day  of  September, 
1869. 

Malachi  Monk,  Auditor,  C.  C. 


310         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Then  began  an  earnest  campaign  for  the  road  and 
against  the  road.  "When  the  election  was  over  the  vote  was 
as  shown  below.  The  judges  met  at  Leavenworth  on 
November  4,  I860,  and  canvassed  the  votes.  It  appeared 
that  942  votes  were  cast,  out  of  which  493  were  for  the 
road  and  449  were  against  the  road. 

For  the  railroad :  Boone,  1 ;  Jennings,  34 ;  Johnson, 
66;  Liberty,  42;  Ohio,  7;  Patoka,  77;  Sterling,  94;  Union, 
107 ;  Whisky  Run,  65.  Total,  493.  Against  the  railroad : 
Boone,  85 ;  Jennings,  197 ;  Johnson,  10 ;  Liberty,  1 ;  Ohio, 
100;  Patoka,  2;  Sterling,  14;  Union,  1;  Whisky  Run,  39. 
Total,  449. 

The  judges  signed  as  follows : 

Boone— H.  B.  Meylin,  salary $1.80 

Jennings — John  S.  Whitten,  salary   1.00 

Johnson — James  B.  Newton,  salary 2.60 

Liberty — Enoch  Weathers,  salary  2.02 

Ohio — Elias  Romine,  salary   1.32 

Patoka — Jacob  Tucker,  salary  2.68 

Sterling — T.  B.  Cummins,  salary   2.00 

Union — E.  F.  Roberson,  salary. 2.02 

Whisky  Run — J.  F.  Sanders,  salary   1.96 

Nothing  more  was  done  with  the  matter  until  Tuesday, 
June  7,  1870.  On  that  day  J.  J.  McCollister  and  N.  C. 
Butler  appeared  before  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
and  asked  that  a  special  tax  of  one  per  cent,  be  levied  upon 
all  the  real  estate  of  the  county  to  pay  the  sum  of  $32,000, 
but  the  board,  after  examining  the  poll  books,  tally  sheets 
and  the  clerk's  reports,  decided  that  the  majority  of  the 
votes  were  against  the  railroad. 


THE  SEVENTIES  311 

The  matter  was  taken  to  court.  Hall  Golden  started 
the  suit  to  collect  the  money.  This  made  him  very  un- 
popular. Efforts  were  made  to  hang  him.  So  he  hid  out 
of  nights  till  he  contracted  consumption,  from  which  he 
died.     He  was  a  good  man,  too. 

One  night  a  mob  descended  on  Leavenworth  and  cap- 
tured Bill  Temple.  He  lived  up  on  the  Leavenworth  hill. 
He  told  them  to  ride  around  the  road  and  he  would  dress 
and  come  down  the  path  the  near  way.  They  told  him 
that  they  would  not  let  him  get  away  from  them.  So 
when  he  was  ready  they  rode  up  and  down  the  streets  till 
they  were  tired.  Then  they  forced  him  to  open  the  office 
door  so  that  they  could  tear  up  certain  records  in  the 
office.  The  papers  were  burned.  On  that  point  the  citizens 
were  in  the  wrong.  One  may  find  the  pages  torn  out  of 
book  eight,  pages  396  to  399  of  the  comissioners'  records. 

The  matter  was  taken  to  Vanderburg  County.  A  hear- 
ing occurred  December  14,  1870.  The  county  paid  John 
M.  B.  Scott,  one  of  the  county  commissioners,  $50  to  pay 
his  expenses.  Later  he  refunded  $17  which  was  not  spent 
out  of  the  $50.  The  clerk  of  the  Vanderburg  County  court 
does  not  seem  to  have  any  record  of  the  case.  But  the  case 
evidently  went  to  the  Indiana  Supreme  Court  and  then 
to  the  Federal  Court  at  Chicago.  The  case  was  decided  in 
favor  of  the  county  commissioners.  By  May,  1871,  the 
county  had  paid  out  $1,219.75. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  company  had  failed.  The  road 
was  graded  in  many  places,  but  it  cost  more  than  the  com- 
pany expected. 

One  finds  the  board  ordering  William  T.  Zenor  to  bring 


312  HISTORY  OP  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

suit  to  collect  the  cost  of  the  suit  from  the  company  on 
October  1,   1873. 

Yet  the  people  were  not  to  be  left  without  a  railroad 
many  years.  The  company  was  reorganized  and  steps 
taken  to  secure  help  from  the  county  again.  The  county 
commissioners  were  summoned  to  meet  on  July  8,  1879, 
for  the  purpose  of  considering  petitions  from  Whisky  Run, 
Sterling,  Liberty,  Patoka  and  Johnson  townships  as  to 
the  propriety  of  calling  an  election  in  these  townships  for 
or  against  the  appropriation  of  certain  sums  of  money  to 
the  New  Albany  and  St.  Louis  Airline  Company.  Comes 
now  E.  Hostetter,  E.  F.  Hostetter,  J.  M.  Eddleman,  G.  W. 
Baylor,  J.  F.  Sanders  and  many  others,  being  in  all  over 
25  and  present  the  following  petition : 

"To  the  County  Commissioners  of  Crawford  County, 
your  petitioners  whose  names  appear  below  are  citizens 
of  Whisky  Run  township  and  are  legal  voters.  That  the 
Louisville,  New  Albany  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  Company 
is  an  organization  incorporated  under  the  law  of  Indiana 
to  build  and  operate  a  railroad  which  will  run  through 
Whisky  Run  township,  Liberty  township,  Sterling  town- 
ship, Patoka  township  and  Johnson  township,  upon  the 
appropriation  of  $3,200,  which  was  less  than  two  per  cent, 
of  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  township.  The  $3,200  to 
be  paid  to  the  company  when  the  road  was  completed  and 
the  first  train  run  over  the  road.  Also  pray  that  the  board 
order  an  election  to  ascertain  the  will  of  the  voters. 
Signed : 

1.  E.  Hostetter  3.     J.  W.  Eddleman 

2.  E.  F.  Hostetter  4.     G.  W.  Bavlor 


THE  SEVENTIES  313 


5. 

J.  F.  Sanders 

17. 

W.  S.  Daniels 

6. 

E.  C.  Powers 

18. 

J.  E.  Funk 

7. 

Christian  Atz 

19. 

J.  W.  Funk 

8. 

August  Atz 

20. 

John  V.  Baylor 

9. 

C.  E.  McVey 

21. 

George  C.  Bye 

10. 

Joseph  Thomas 

22. 

Clinton  Wyman 

11. 

George  Walts 

23. 

S.  S.  Whiteman 

12. 

Adam  Kepler 

24. 

J.  B.  Rhodes 

13. 

William  Spencer 

25. 

G.  W.  Murr 

14. 

G.  0.  Gibbs 

26. 

Christian  Hehl 

15. 

William  Gibbs 

27. 

John  Lonigan 

16. 

J.  R,  Gibbs 

28. 

Lewis  Wyman 

After  due  consideration,  Bennett  H.  Young,  being  duly 
sworn,  states  that  the  names  and  signatures  are  genuine, 
the  board  set  August  13,  1879,  for  the  election  in  Whisky 
Run  township.  The  auditor  put  up  the  notices  in  due 
form   and  in  the   proper  places. 

Then  came  Liberty  township,  John  M.  Johnson,  W.  H. 
Byrum,  Thomas  Heeston,  James  M.  Weathers,  Daniel 
Weathers,  John  R.  Land,  George  Conrad,  James  Walts, 
R.  Mitchell,  W.  T.  Walts,  P.  S.  Taylor,  Ben  N.  Sloan, 
M.  H.   Sloan,  John  Taylor,  Joseph  Boyd,   Calvin  White, 

William  Creatch,  Byrum,  J.  N.  Breeden,  Joseph 

Weathers,  John  Vandiver,  H.  H.  Weathers,  J.  D.  Hedrick, 
Vincent  Weathers,  Robert  Walts,  F.  P.  Walts,  Chesterfield 
Weathers,  John  Jameson,  Joab  Stroud,  Eph  Jones  and 
Jacob  Crecelius  on  a  petition  for  Liberty  township.  Board 
ordered  the  polls  open  on  August  13,  1879,  to  vote  on 
whether  they  would  give  $2,200  to  the  company  to  help 
with  the  railroad. 


314 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


Sterling  filed  a  petition  to  have  an  election  to  see  if 
the  people  would  give  $2,400  to  help  bnild  the  railroad. 
These  men  signed  it: 


J.  S.  Hall 
S.  T.  Mann 
W.  E.  Moore 
Woodfield  Denbo 
W.  H.  H.  Toney 
M.  H.  Tucker 
J.  M.  Denbo 
David  Miller 
J.  L.  Miller 
James  Cunningham 
Caleb  Temple 
Jerry  Carter 
John  H.  Bird 
H.  C.  Hammond 


John  Cunningham 
George  W.  Sloan 
H.  A.  Rothrock 
W.  B.  Gregory 
II.  R.  Miller 
James  Crandall 

B Gregory 

William  Gregory 
John  Gregory 
Riley  Wilson 
Ben  Lambdin 
James  Burnett 
James  Bobbitt 
Rice  Cryswell 


The  board  set  August  13,  1879,  on  which  to  vote  for 
the  railroad.    Then  came  these  men  from  Patoka  township : 


Lemuel  Crews 
D.  M.  Crews 
Jerry  Belcher 
Lafe  Bennett 
Sam  Tucker 
Henry  Goldman 
J.  E.  Crecelius 
W.  P.  Morgan 
Levi  Trustee 
Alford  Brown 


A.  J.  Mason 
James  M.  Lone 

B.  H.  Mock 
Anthony  Allstott 
George  Summers 
John  W.  Belcher 
Jeremiah  Crews 
William  King 
William  Dooley 
E.  D.  Mason 


THE  SEVENTIES 


315 


Eli  Allstott 
Squire  Mock 
J.  W.  Williams 
William  Stroud 
T.  B.  Belcher 
Eobert  Patton 


James  Nash 
August  Helenbrecht 
William  II.  Taylor 
Harriett  Gilliet 
J.  A.  B.  Crecelius 
Marcus  Denbo 


The  board  set  August  13,  1879,  on  which  to  vote  for 
1879,  to  see  if  a  majority  of  the  people  wished  to  donate 
$2,200  to  the  railroad. 

Then  came  the  following  citizens  from  Johnson  town- 
ship and  asked  that  an  election  be  held  to  see  if  the  major- 
ity there  wished  to  donate  $1,400  to  the  railroad  company : 


Isaac  Newton 
Henry  Knight 
Henry  Rowland 
James  Rowland 
George  Rowland 
Sam  Speedy 
W.  S.  Benham 
Finley  Nash 
Lewis  Morgan 
Chris  Eckerty 
John  Knight 
Lockland  Reed 
Sam  Wright 
James  Thurston 
George  Fields 


William  Trusty 
Peter  Newton 
James  Speedy 
Robert  Gilmore 
J.  N.  Brown 
J.  R.  Newton 
John  0.  Nash 
Elisha  Brown 
William  Marry 
Warner  Newton 
Thomas  Gilmore 
Jackson  Newton 
Jefferson  Speedy 
Robert  Knight 


The  board  set  August  13,  1879,  on  which  to  vote  for 
the  measure  or  against  it. 


316  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

In  Whisky  Run  township  the  railroad  lost,  but  another 
election  was  held.  A  bitter  campaign  was  waged.  The 
vote  on  the  question  was :  For  the  donation,  125 ;  against 
donation,  120. 

Christian  Atz  and  John  Benz  did  some  hard  work  for 
the  railroad.  Liberty,  Sterling  and  Patoka  townships 
voted  for  the  donation.  Records  are  not  clear  about  John- 
son, but  think  the  people  voted  against  it.  Anyway,  the 
railroad  hardly  touches  Johnson  township  as  it  runs 
through  the  county. 

The  commissioners  assessed  the  cost  of  holding  the 
elections  as  follows: 

Whisky  Run  township   $37.33 

Liberty  township    36.33 

Sterling  township   37.33 

Patoka  township   39.33 

Johnson  township   38.33 

Total    $188.65 

The  new  company  completed  the  road  and  ran  the  train 
over  it.     Then  the  townships  paid  in  the  money. 

Many  amusing  stories  are  told  about  the  people  who 
came  out  to  see  the  train.  At  English  a  large  crowd  was 
gathered  on  the  little  hill  south  of  the  station.  When  the 
engineer  was  ready  to  start,  he  called  out  to  the  people  on 
the  hillside  and  said  that  they  must  get  out  of  there  for  he 
wanted  to  run  up  on  that  hillside  and  turn  around.  He 
blew  the  whistle  and  the  people  ran  like  mad  persons. 


THE  SEVENTIES  317 

Yet  one  should  not  blame  these  poor  people  too  much. 
It  was  new  to  them. 

Much  complaint  was  made  about  the  Dry  Run  bridge. 
On  March  5,  1874,  James  R.  Lambdin,  Logan  Miller  and 
Alexander  Trotter  being  the  county  commissioners, 
awarded  a  contract  to  W.  T.  Masher  and  W.  P.  Ever  don 
to  erect  the  walls  and  wings  out  of  good  stone.  And  to 
erect  on  the  abutments  a  number  one  "Davenport  patent 
wrought  iron  bridge"  Ham  truss  arch  bridge.  The  price 
of  the  masonry  at  $8.65  per  cubic  yard.  The  dry  filling 
was  $2.75  per  cubic  yard,  and  the  digging  at  26  cents  a 
cubic  yard.  The  dirt  filling  in  the  approaches  was  22% 
cents  a  cubic  yard.  The  iron  cost  $21.50  a  linear  foot. 
They  must  keep  the  old  bridge  in  repair  till  the  new  one 
was  complete.  The  old  bridge  was  very  dangerous.  On 
September  5,  1865,  John  Wolf's  horse  walked  over  the 
edge  and  fell  to  the  ground,  killing  itself.  He  made  claim 
for  $75,  but  the  board  allowed  him  $65.  No  banisters 
were  up  then  and  horses  might  easily  run  too  near  the 
edge  and  fall  over. 

The  specifications  for  the  Dry  Run  bridge  were  care- 
fully drawn;  good  stone  must  be  used  and  no  cheap  work 
of  any  kind  tolerated. 

There  were  two  bonds,  No.  4  and  No.  5,  struck  for 
$1,000,  to  be  paid  on  March  5,  1875,  with  interest  at  ten 
percent.,  to  get  money  to  build  this  bridge.  The  men  who 
built  the  bridge  did  a  good  piece  of  work.  It  is  still  stand- 
ing now  (1925). 

The  Dry  Run  bridge  was  ordered  condemned  Decem- 
ber 4,  1872,  by  Commissioners  Jacob  Tucker,  Logan  Miller 
and  John  Archibald.     The  supervisor  was  ordered  to  close 


318  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  road  leading  to  the  bridge  and  notify  the  trustee  of 
the  condition  of  the  bridge.  Our  people  were  so  careless 
that  the  commissioners  had  to  take  such  strict  methods 
before  anything  was  done  with  the  old  bridge. 

The  cost  of  the  new  bridge  was:  Masonry,  first  class, 
east  abutment  and  wing  wall,  411.39  cubic  yards;  west 
abutment,  134.36  cubic  yards.  Total,  545.75  cubic  yards 
at  $8.65=$4,72Q.73.  Retaining  walls,  east  side,  185.27 
cubic  feet;  west  side,  93.82  cubic  feet;  total,  279.09  cubic 
feet  at  $2.75=$767.58.  Digging,  east  side,  241.18  cubic 
yards;  digging,  west  side,  130.67  cubic  yards;  total  yards, 
371.85  cubic  yards  at  25  cents=$96.68.  Fills,  east 
side,  1,840.72  cubic  yards;  fills,  west  side,  430.35  cubic 
yards;  total,  2,271.07  cubic  yards  at  22%  cents=$510.99. 
Timber,  4,140  feet  of  bottom  at  $20=$82.80 ;  69  linear  feet 
of  bridge  at  $21.50=$1,483.50.  Total  for  lumber,  $1,566.30. 
Total  cost  of  the  bridge,  $7,662.20. 

Malachi  Monk  certifies  that  the  above  is  correct,  accord- 
ing to  Hiram  Wilson,  the  engineer. 

Another  bridge  much  needed  in  those  early  days  was 
the  bridge  over  Slick  Run,  where  the  creek  coming  down 
"Devil's  Hollow"  runs  into  Slick  Run,  near  where  Jen- 
ners'  mill  stood.  At  present  Rogers  lives  near  where  Slick 
Run  runs  into  Big  Blue.  The  board  ordered  the  bridge 
March  2,  1874,  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  board.  The 
specifications  and  plans  were :  Two  good  substantial  stone 
abutments,  pillars,  or  piers  on  each  side  of  the  stream  six- 
teen feet  wide  by  five  feet  deep  at  the  base,  fifteen  feet 
from  the  bed  of  the  creek  to  the  top  of  the  pier  with  one- 
half  inch  batter  to  the  foot  with  the  corner  up  stream  cir- 
cled over  said  stone  must  be  of  a  fine  variety.     The  span 


THE  SEVENTIES  319 

was  to  be  forty  feet  from  pier  to  pier.  The  roadway  was 
to  be  fourteen  feet  wide.  The  bridge  was  to  have  seven 
sills,  each  7  inches  x  14  inches  x  40  feet  of  good  seasoned 
oak.  The  floor  was  to  be  6  inches  x  2  inches  and  laid  cross- 
wise, well  spiked  with  four-inch  spikes. 

The  bridge  must  have  good  substantial  banisters  on 
each  side.  The  bridge  must  be  bolted  down  to  the  pier  to  a 
depth  of  five  feet. 

M.  C.  Froman  was  appointed  a  special  commissioner  to 
let  the  contract,  make  the  plans  and  specifications  and 
superintend  the  matter. 

The  bridge  was  to  cost  $4,500,  which  was  appropriated 
for  that  purpose.  M.  C.  Froman  was  to  receive  a  good  sum 
for  his  service. 

Edward  Perkins  filed  a  claim  for  $95  for  extra  work. 
The  board  rejected  the  claim  and  he  appealed  the  suit 
to  the  circuit  court  at  the  request  of  the  board,  but  later  he 
was  allowed  $49.25  for  the  work. 

The  hope  of  the  new  railroad  being  built  stimulated  men 
to  try  all  kinds  of  schemes  and  plans  to  meet  the  boom  of 
prosperity. 

Trustee  Joseph  Brown,  of  Sterling,  who  had  spent  the 
money  of  the  township  for  unauthorized  purposes,  was 
accused  by  the  good  people  of  Sterling  township.  The 
rumors  had  been  current  for  some  time,  and  finally  the 
board  ordered  him  to  appear  before  them  and  submit  his 
books.  The  books  showed  that  when  school  closed  he  gave 
his  teachers  due  bills  against  the  township  and  secured 
their  receipts  for  the  same. 

He  also  had  a  deficit  because  the  funds  were  used  to 


320  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

build  a  large  house  in  English,  so  men  say  who  knew  all 
about  him. 

The  board  ordered  him  to  be  removed  from  the  office 
and  all  the  papers  handed  over  to  his  successor,  who  was 
Mr.  Goodson.     The  matter  was  finally  settled. 

During  the  seventies  a  new  law  was  enacted  by  the 
General  Assembly,  providing  for  a  county  superintendent 
of  schools,  whose  duty  it  was  to  look  after  the  school  funds  of 
the  county.  Stated  elsewhere  in  the  chapter  on  education, 
one  may  read  of  the  election  of  J.  W.  C.  Springston,  who 
was  our  first  county  school  head. 

One  of  the  first  important  duties  of  Springston  was  to 
catch  Preston  O'Bannon,  trustee  of  Ohio  township,  who 
had  been  embezzling  the  school  funds  for  some  time.  After 
the  suit  was  started  0  'Bannon  escaped  to  Illinois  and  lived 
there  many  years  under  an  assumed  name  until  a  question 
arose  relative  to  certain  insurance  and  the  Masonic  lodge, 
of  which  he  was  a  member.  Doctor  Hawn  of  Leavenworth 
went  on  the  hunt  of  him.  Hawn  found  him  down  in  Illi- 
nois where  he  had  been  elected  judge.  When  he  saw  Hawn 
he  cried  out :  ' '  Oh,  my  God,  Hawn,  if  you  tell  on  me  I  am 
ruined."  Hawn  persuaded  him  to  come  back  and  appear 
on  the  streets  of  the  town  of  Leavenworth  where  the  men 
could  see  him.  Then  his  widow  could  not  prove  he  was 
dead  and  draw  his  life  insurance.  The  amount  of  the 
money  lost  was  made  good  by  his  bond.  After  appearing 
on  the  streets  he  left. 

March  4,  1879,  Thaddeus  Kelso  appeared  before  the 
commissioners  and  reported  that  he  had  filed  1,958  ballots 
cast  at  the  April  election  in  1878  in  the  county.  He 
charged  $121.50  which  was  paid  him  by  two  orders  issued 


THE  SEVENTIES  321 

by  A.  M.  Sipes,  dated  December  10,  1878,  for  the  sum  of 
$71.50  and  $50.  Of  the  above  sum  $97.90  was  for  filing  the 
ballots  at  five  cents  apiece.  He  said  that  he  thought  the 
law  allowed  the  sum,  but  later  he  learned  that  the  attorney- 
general  ruled  against  the  matter.  So  he  begged  the  com- 
missioners to  receive  the  sum  which  he  was  refunding.  The 
board  being  fully  advised,  accepted  the  sum  and  closed  the 
matter. 

The  poor  farm  of  Crawford  County  has  never  been 
run  on  a  very  satisfactory  record.  On  September  3,  1875, 
William  Lynch  was  allowed  the  sum  of  $22.75  for  taking 
the  Dunham  family  back  to  Pike  County.  At  the  same 
meeting  N.  N.  Morgan  was  granted  $3.50  for  making  a 
coffin  for  a  pauper.  The  same  year  the  insurance  on  the 
house  was  $15.00. 

At  the  December  meeting  in  1874  Fielding  L.  Priest  was 
allowed  a  claim  of  $225.85  for  articles  furnished  the  pau- 
pers and  for  caring  for  the  poor  farm. 

In  April  he  received  $321.75  for  keeping  and  caring 
for  the  paupers.  John  D.  Shaffer  was  allowed  $175  for 
underpinning  the  poor  farm  house  December  3,  1875. 

Logan  Miller  was  appointed  by  the  board  to  visit  and 
inspect  the  poor  farm  from  time  to  time  and  see  how  it  was 
managed. 

The  county  court  house  was  much  in  need  of  repairs 
during  the  seventies.  Business  was  at  its  greatest  then. 
The  trade  of  all  the  north  part  of  the  county  came  through 
Leavenworth. 

One  finds  the  commissioners  giving  John  J.  McCallister 
and  W.  P.  Everdon  the  right  to  build  a  house  on  one 
corner  of  the  court  house  lot.     They  agreed  to  pay  $12  a 


322  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

year  for  the  right.  At  the  request  of  the  commissioners 
they  were  to  move  the  house  off. 

Also  William  H.  Peckinpaugh  was  allowed  to  erect  a 
building  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  court  house  lot 
near  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  was  to  pay  $12  a  year 
as  long  as  he  used  the  house.  He  may  move  it  away  any 
time  he  wishes. 

For  the  comfort  of  the  people  a  new  rest  room,  12  feet  x 
14  feet  x  8  feet,  was  erected  on  the  back  side  of  the  court 
house.  The  building  was  to  be  constructed  of  oak  and  well 
built. 

E.  M.  Tracewell  was  allowed  to  erect  an  office  on  the 
court  house  lot  No.  217.  He  was  to  pay  $12  a  year  rent. 
The  board  was  to  give  him  two  months'  notice  before  he 
had  to  move  the  building. 

Peter  Neal  was  paid  $4  for  boxing  the  shade  trees 
around  the  court  house,  and  Martin  H.  Tucker  was  paid 
for  putting  a  new  shingle  roof  on  the  jail  in  1860. 

Joel  Lyons,  who  furnished  the  cotton  and  the  batting 
to  make  quilts  for  the  county  jail,  was  paid  $14.50  for  the 
quilts  on  December  8,  1863. 

A  new  cell  was  made  to  the  jail  by  H.  H.  Hosmer  June 
6,  1864,  for  which  he  was  paid  $290.  That  same  month 
George  W.  Whitten,  who  had  guarded  the  prisoners  while 
the  new  cell  was  being  built,  received  $16.  Josiah  Long 
furnished  the  irons  for  the  county  jail  for  which  he  re- 
ceived $40.  Jeremiah  Collins  laid  the  stone  in  the  hearth 
for  which  he  received  $3.50.  C.  A.  Mathus  was  allowed 
$6  for  whitewashing  the  rooms  in  the  jail. 

To  the  readers  of  Crawford  County  the  following  items 
will  be  interesting :     On  August  6;  1877,  A.  M.  Duffin  ap- 


THE  SEVENTIES  323 

peared  before  the  county  superintendent  and  made  com- 
plaint against  James  Faulkner,  who  was  a  teacher  in 
Union  township.  The  general  charge  was  that  he  was 
verjT  immoral  and  not  a  fit  person  to  teach  school.  The 
specific  charge  was  that  Faulkner  had  on  August  10,  1876, 
bought  of  James  M.  Duffin  of  West  Fork  a  gallon  of  liquor 
which  he  took  up  to  the  schoolhouse  one  night  at  a  school 
election.  At  that  time  the  law  allowed  the  patrons  to 
elect  their  teacher.  So  Faulkner  was  accused  of  getting 
behind  the  house  in  the  dark  with  a  tin  cup  and  the  jug 
of  liquor.  He  was  said  to  be  giving  it  freely  to  the  voters. 
Of  course,  there  was  no  doubt  about  how  the  election  went. 
Faulkner  defeated  Duffin  for  the  school  by  a  handsome 
vote. 

Superintendent  Springston  set  a  day  for  trial  on  Octo- 
ber 18,  1877,  at  his  office  in  Fredonia.  On  the  said  day 
the  men  appeared  before  John  Springston  and  the  trial 
was  on. 

Faulkner  said  that  he  gave  the  whisky  away,  while  the 
Duffins  had  sold  the  liquor.  Therefore  he  was  more  gen- 
erous than  they. 

By  mutual  consent  Duffin  withdrew  the  complaint  and 
the  case  was  dropped. 

The  table  of  statistics  for  the  year  of  1877,  July  10 : 

The  enumeration  :  Boone,  117  ;  Jennings,  566 ;  John- 
son, 347;  Liberty,  286;  Ohio,  409;  Patoka,  564;  Sterling, 
562;.  Whisky  Run,  488;  Alton,  89;  Leavenworth,  233. 
Total  was  4,181  pupils. 

The  Congressional  township  fund  accrued  the  following 
interests:  Boone,  $9.40;  Jennings,  $47.72;  Johnson,  $29.27; 
Liberty,  $24.12;   Ohio,   $34.50;   Patoka,   $47.34;   Sterling, 


324  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

$47.50;  Whisky  Run,  $41.14;  Alton,  $7.50;  Leavenworth, 
$19.65.    Total,  $349.44. 

The  liquor  license  returned  to  the  county :  Boone, 
$480;  Jennings,  $13.02;  Johnson,  $900;  Liberty,  $658; 
Ohio,  $940;  Patoka,  $1,200;  Sterling,  $1,350;  Whisky  Run, 
$11.72;  Alton,  $214;  Leavenworth,  $538.     Total,  $4,301.74. 

Common  School  revenue :  Boone,  $179.01 ;  Jennings, 
$865.98;  Johnson,  $530.90;  Liberty,  $437.88;  Ohio, 
$625.77;  Patoka,  $862.92;  Sterling,  $859.86;  Whisky  Run, 
$746.64;  Alton,  $136.17;  Leavenworth,  $356.49.  Total, 
$5,601.62. 

The  political  lines  were  drawn  tightly  in  Crawford 
County  during  the  war  and  the  years  following. 

The  Democrats  held  a  mass  meeting  in  Hartford  on 
August  6,  1864,  at  which  more  than  a  thousand  men  are 
said  to  have  been  present.  Honorable  J.  A.  Cravens  and 
Judge  Parrott  addressed  the  convention.  The  county 
ticket  was  selected  as  follows :  Clerk,  Jim  Lemonds ;  audi- 
tor, C.  C.  Lamb;  treasurer,  M.  Monk;  sheriff,  M.  II. 
Tucker;  representative,  J.  T.  Sanders.  But  the  party  was 
not  very  successful.  Governor  Morton,  who  was  very  pop- 
ular in  the  county,,  helped  defeat  the  Democrats.  The  vote 
for  Governor  was:  Morton,  787;  McDonald,  735.  For 
President:  Lincoln,  706;  McClellan,  709.  The  county 
ticket  was  divided.  The  Republicans  elected  Ben  T.  Good- 
man, representative;  Dunbar  Patrick,  auditor,  and  Walter 
Seacat,  treasurer.  Probably  the  remainder  of  the  ticket 
was  Democratic. 

Vote  of  1868 :  President,  Grant,  Republican,  970 ;  Sey- 
mour, Democrat,  981.  Governor,  Baker,  Republican,  983 ; 
Hendricks,  Democrat,  1,012. 


THE  SEVENTIES  325 

The  election  of  1872  was  a  queer  one.  Notwithstanding 
the  many  rude  remarks  and  the  criticisms  Greeley  had 
made  about  the  Democratic  party,  that  party  had  nom- 
inated him  for  President  with  the  vain  hope  that  he  might 
defeat  General  Grant.  Despite  his  many  faults  Grant  was 
not  a  bad  man  at  heart,     The  vote  in  1872  was : 

For  Governor :  Hendricks,  Democrat,  1,217 ;  Brown, 
Republican,  1,092.  For  President :  Grant,  Republican- 
Regular,  1,027;  Greeley,  Republican-Liberal,  1,032. 

The  vote  in  1876  was  not  so  close.  For  President : 
Hayes,  Republican,  991 ;  Tilden,  Democrat,  1,173 ;  Cooper, 
Greenback  party,  33. 

The  vote  in  1880  was:  Garfield,  Republican,  1,134; 
Hancock,  Democrat,  1,368 ;  Weaver,  Greenback,  55. 

The  vote  in  1884  was:  Blaine,  Republican,  1,296; 
Cleveland,  Democrat,  1,610;  Butler,  Greenback,  32. 

The  vote  in  1888  was :  Harrison,  Republican,  1,445 ; 
Cleveland,  Democrat,  1,628. 

The  campaign  of  1892  was  a  remarkable  one :  Har- 
rison, Republican,  1,276;  Cleveland,  Democrat,  1,529; 
Weaver,  Peoples'  party,  200;  Bidwell,  Prohibition  party, 
18. 

The  campaign  of  1896  was  the  most  hotly  contested 
one  ever  held  in  our  county.  Political  lines  were  drawn 
very  tightly.  Old  neighbors  became  mad  at  their  best 
neighbors.  The  free  silver  idea  had  torn  up  the  old 
parties.     The  vote : 

McKinley,  Republican,  1,529 ;  Bryan,  Democrat,  1,731. 

Besides  the  figures  for  President  these  trustees  were  in 
office  in  1877:  Boone,  R.  H.  Fullenwider;  Jennings,  John 
Bahr;    Johnson,    Lewis   Walls;    Liberty,    John    Breeden; 


326  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Ohio,  W.  H.  Conrad;  Patoka,  John  Williams;  Sterling, 
Joel  Vandiver;  Union,  P.  K.  Kitterman;  Whisky  Run, 
Christian  Atz. 

Assessors — Boone,   A.   J.   Henderson;   Jennings,   S.   E. 

McFall;  Johnson, ;  Liberty,   G.  A.  Walls; 

Ohio,  Gilbert  Abel;  Patoka,  Francis  Highfill;  Sterling, 
Alex  Sipes;  Union,  Russell  Smallwood;  Whisky  Run,  John 
R.  Stroud. 

The  board  ordered  the  elections  held  at  these  places : 
Boone,  Alton;  Jennings,  Leavenworth;  Johnson,  in  section 
34;  Liberty,  Big  Springs;  Ohio,  Fredonia;  Patoka,  School 
No.  2;  Sterling,  Hartford;  Union,  Roberson's  school; 
Whisky  Run,  Milltown. 

BIG   ELUE   RIVER  BRIDGE  AT   MILLTOWN 

At  a  meeting  of  the  commissioners  on  March  7,  1860,  it 
was  ordered  that  William  Gibbs  and  Isaiah  Berkshire  be 
allowed  $1,000  for  building  or  repairing  the  bridge  over 
Big  Blue  at  Milltown.  William  McKinley,  of  Perry 
County,  who  had  the  original  contract,  appeared  and  de- 
manded that  the  county  should  keep  its  original  contract 
on  condition  that  he  would  withdraw  the  appeal  which  he 
had  made  to  the  circuit  court  when  they  refused  to  grant 
him  money.  The  contract  read  that  William  McKinley  of 
Perry  County  agreed  and  contracted  with  the  county  com- 
missioners of  Crawford  and  Harrison  Counties  to  build  a 
bridge  over  the  Big  Blue  River  where  the  New  Albany  and 
Jasper  road  crossed.  He  gave  Wilson  Daniels,  Ballard 
Smith  and  Job  Hatfield  as  bondmen.  He  must  comply 
strictly  with  every  part  of  the  contract.  The  bridge  was 
to  cost  $17.60  a  foot.     He  must  begin  July  1,  1860,  and 


THE  SEVENTIES  327 

complete  the  work  by  July  25,  1860.  Mr.  McKinley  en- 
gaged John  Frazier  of  Harrison  County  to  survey  the 
bridge  and  draw  up  the  plan  of  work.  Our  county  paid 
$25  for  this  work  on  June  4,  1861.  The  construction  did 
not  proceed  as  fast  as  some  thought  and  the  county  com- 
missioners appointed  James  Lemmons  and  B.  P.  Douglas 
of  Harrison  County  to  investigate  the  matter,  get  the  facts 
about  the  bridge,  and  report  at  the  next  court.  The  above 
order  was  given  on  June  6,  1861.  Not  satisfied,  the  board 
of  commissioners  held  a  meeting  at  Milltown  July  1,  1861, 
at  which  meeting  it  was  agreed  that  the  original  contract 
signed  May  15,  1860,  is  cancelled.  McKinley  surrendered 
all  his  claims  and  the  timbers  on  the  ground,  for  which 
the  board  paid  him  $75,  in  addition  to  what  the  board  had 
already  paid  him. 

County  commissioners,  Calvin  White,  James  Tadlock, 
David  Miller. 

The  part  of  the  contract  by  which  the  board  had  agreed 
to  pay  James  Harvey  for  getting  out  the  stone  was  also 
cancelled.  The  board  paid  him  $500  for  what  he  had  done 
and  the  stone  on  the  hill  and  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  So 
far  nothing  definite  was  done  till  June  4,  1862,  when  Har- 
rison County  was  then  anxious  to  help.  So  the  board  of 
commissioners  appointed  Edward  C.  Powers  to  act  in  con- 
junction with  the  commissioners  and  estimate  the  cost  of 
such  a  bridge.  On  June  13,  1862,  a  joint  session  of  the 
commissioners  of  Harrison  and  Crawford  Counties  was 
held  at  Milltown.  Powers  being  present,  the  boards  ex- 
amined his  plans  and  agreed  that  a  good  substantial  bridge 
ought  to  be  built  over  the  river  there  under  the  direction  of 
Powers  and  Douglas  at  a  cost  not  to  exceed  $2,000. 


328  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

FULLEN  WIDER  *S     BRIDGE 

The  board  of  county  commissioners  on  June  2,  1863, 
appointed  Edward  C.  Powers  and  Perry  Riddle  to  super- 
vise the  construction  of  a  bridge  at  Fullenwider's  Mill.  On 
September  9,  1863,  the  board  held  a  special  session  where 
the  men  were  building  the  bridge.  The  work  went  on 
gradually  for  several  years.  On  September  6,  1866,  Perry 
Wilks  was  authorized  to  sell  all  the  surplus  stone  and 
wood.  James  Tadlock  was  appointed  to  supervise  the 
bridge  and  see  that  the  work  was  done  well.  On  Septem- 
ber 4,  1867,  William  Wilks  reports  that  the  bridge  has 
been  completed  and  received.  The  board  accepted  the 
report  and  paid  William  Wilks  $50  for  his  services. 

POOR     FARM 

At  a  meeting  of  the  commissioners  of  Crawford  County 
held  at  the  court  house  in  the  town  of  Leavenworth  on 
March  7,  1860,  the  county  poor  farm  was  rented  to  Richard 
Weathers  for  $85  per  acre.  The  county  was  to  pay  him  $1.25 
a  week  for  each  pauper  kept.  At  that  time  the  house  was 
a  double  log  house  with  broken  window  panes  in  which  old 
rags,  carpet  and  old  clothes  were  stuffed  to  keep  out  the 
cold.  Squire  Weathers,  G.  H.  Shaw  and  Leonard  Shaw 
were  on  his  bond  for  $700.  The  contract  was  to  last  two 
years. 

On  July  3,  1861,  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
engaged  James  Shaw  and  Alvin  B.  Shaw  to  clean  out  the 
fence  rows.  They  were  to  receive  40  cents  for  every  hun- 
dred rails  re-set  and  $1.00  for  every  hundred  rails  made 
and  laid  up.    They  were  paid  $52.75  on  December  4,  1861, 


THE  SEVENTIES  329 

and  J.  S.  Neal  was  allowed  $1.50  for  examining  the  fence 
and  the  rails. 

When  the  commissioners  met  on  December  6,  1861, 
Weathers  had  joined  the  Army,  Mr.  Shaw  was  dead,  and 
the  rent  paid,  so  the  contract  with  Richard  Weathers  was 
cancelled.  Thomas  Lynch  appeared  and  agreed  to  take 
the  poor  farm  on  the  same  contract  as  Richard  Weathers. 

On  March  10,  1870,  a  new  contract  was  let  with  Mr. 
Lynch  for  three  years.  He  was  to  pay  the  comity  $75  a 
year  and  keep  the  buildings  and  farm  in  good  repair.  He 
was  to  board  all  the  paupers  for  $1.45  per  week.  He  was 
to  have  a  fair  compensation  for  all  improvements  made. 
Lynch 's  bond  was  signed  by  Gilbert  Shaw,  Jesse  Addis, 
James  S.  Shaw  and  Alfred  Bybee. 

On  December  6,  1870,  the  county  paid  Thomas  Lynch 
the  sum  of  $85.90  for  washing,  boarding  and  caring  for 
the  paupers  on  the  poor  farm.  At  that  time  not  all  the 
paupers  were  in  the  poor  farm.  The  board  of  commis- 
sioners ordered  the  trustees  on  December  5,  1871,  to  trans- 
fer all  the  paupers  to  the  farm.  No  allowances  were  to  be 
granted  to  them  from  that  time  on. 

Fielding  Priest  was  elected  to  care  for  the  poor  farm 
in  September,  1872.  He  was  granted  a  fee  of  $1.40  for 
each  one.  He  was  to  make  two  thousand  rails  the  first 
year  and  one  thousand  the  second  year.  He  must  pay  the 
commissioners  a  rent  of  $55  a  year. 

On  April  23,  1869,  Andrew  M.  Scott  contested  the 
election  of  Oliver  N.  Beals  for  trustee  of  Jennings  town- 
ship. The  sheriff  was  ordered  to  call  the  county  com- 
missioners, John  M.  Scott,  Houston  Miller  and  M.  C.  Fro- 


330         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

man,  to  meet  at  the  court  house  in  Leavenworth  for  the 
purpose  of  trying  the  cases  of  John  Shaffer  for  justice  of 
the  peace  and  Andrew  M.  Scott,  trustee  of  Jennings  town- 
ship. Mr.  Scott  claimed  that  at  the  election  held  April  5, 
1869,  John  S.  Whitten,  inspector,  and  W.  P.  Everdon  and 
Charles  L.  Lamb  were  judges.  Oliver  N.  Beals  and  Caspar 
Kehrer  were  clerks,  neglected,  failed,  and  refused  to  count 
all  the  votes.  He  claimed  that  he  received  213  legal  votes, 
but  the  board  refused  to  count  all  the  votes,  but  certified 
that  he  had  received  only  ninety-nine  votes.  Mr.  Scott 
further  certifies  that  the  board  counted  many  illegal  votes 
which  had  distinguishing  marks. 

The  county  commissioners  met  and  listened  to  the 
arguments  of  the  attorneys.  After  due  consideration  the 
members  agreed  that  no  votes  should  be  counted  unless 
they  were  written  or  printed  on  white  paper  as  required 
by  law.  After  examining  the  ballots  cast  at  the  election  on 
April  5,  1869,  it  was  found  that  Andrew  M.  Scott  received 
the  highest  number  of  votes  received  at  the  election.  Scott 
received  104  legal  votes  and  Beals  34. 

John  Shaffer  was  duly  elected  justice  of  the  peace  over 
Thomas  Lynch.  The  votes  were :  Shaffer,  69 ;  John 
Lynch,  25. 

Under  the  old  law  men  cast  their  votes  publicly.  The 
Australian  ballot  was  not  used.  They  secured  their  ballots 
downtown  or  from  candidates  and  went  up  to  the  polls 
and  handed  the  ballot  in  to  the  inspector. 

To-day  men  can  not  be  on  the  board  if  they  are  can- 
didates. The  above  case  was  a  queer  affair.  They  probably 
just  quit  counting  the  votes  when  Beals  was  ahead  of  Scott. 


THE  SEVENTIES  331 

PATOKA     BRIDGE 

On  December  5,  1870,  Houston  Miller  appeared  before 
the  board  and  presented  the  following  report:  Whereby 
by  order  of  the  board  a  bridge  was  ordered  to  be  built 
across  Patoka  Creek  at  the  crossing  of  the  New  Albany 
and  Jasper  road  in  Patoka  township.  In  compliance  with 
said  order  he  advertised  and  awarded  the  contract  to  Will- 
iam King  and  Company  for  the  sum  of  $422.50.  The 
work  being  done  and  the  bridge  built  according  to  the 
specifications,  the  board  received  the  report  and  paid 
William  King  for  his  work. 

SIBERT    SPRING    BRANCH 

On  September  8,  1869,  the  citizens  petitioned  the 
county  commissioners  to  have  a  bridge  erected  over  the 
Sibert  Spring  Branch  just  south  of  the  Wyandotte  Cave. 
The  bridge  was  not  to  cost  over  $300.  Zebulum  Leaven- 
worth was  appointed  to  view  a  site  for  a  bridge  and  draw 
up  plans  and  report  at  the  December  term  of  the  court. 
Mr.  Leavenworth  reported  favorable  and  the  contract  was 
let  to  William  Rothrock  of  Harrison  County.  The  bridge 
was  to  be  built  on  one  abutment  and  one  rock  pier,  the 
abutment  to  be  twelve  feet  high  and  built  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Spring  Branch.  The  base  was  to  be  14  feet  by  4 
feet.  It  was  to  have  a  gradual  slope  and  be  built  out  of 
good  substantial  stone.  The  span  between  the  pillar  and 
the  abutment  was  to  be  45  feet  long.  There  were  to  be  five 
sills  of  poplar  reaching  the  whole  distance  from  the  pier 
to  the  abutment,  said  sills  were  to  be  16  x  8  inches.  The 
floor  was  to  be  laid  out  of  oak  two  inches  thick. 


332         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

William  Rothrock  built  the  bridge  with  care.  After  due 
examination  the  county  commissioners  allowed  him  $125 
for  his  services  on  December  8,  1870. 

BIG   BLUE   BRIDGE 

The  history  of  the  construction  of  the  bridge  over  the 
Big  Blue  River  is  rather  complicated.  William  M.  Ells- 
worth on  September  8,  1869,  appeared  before  the  county 
commissioners  of  Crawford  County  and  presented  the 
following  paper:  "I,  Samuel  Wright,  Auditor  of  said 
County,  and  ex-officio,  clerk  of  the  Board  of  County  Com- 
missioners of  Harrison  County,  due  certify  that  the  follow- 
ing is  a  true  report  of  an  order  passed  at  the  September 
meeting  of  the  County  Commissioners  of  Harrison  County : 
Comes  now  R.  M.  Craig  with  others  and  files  a  petition 
asking  that  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  take  the 
necessary  steps  to  erect  a  bridge  over  Big  Blue  River,  near 
where  the  Leavenworth  and  Corydon  road  crosses  the  said 
where  the  Leavenworth  and  Corydon  road  crosses  the  said 
river.  The  County  Commissioners,  not  being  fully  ad- 
vised, ordered  Attorneys  S.  K.  Wolf  and  B.  P.  Douglas 
to  examine  the  petition  for  them,  and  locate  where  would 
be  the  most  successful  point  for  such  a  bridge.  Requested 
that  Crawford  County  take  similar  steps  in  the  matter 
and  report  all  facts  to  the  Board  of  Commissioners  at  their 
next  meeting.    Signed:  Samuel  J.  Wright." 

At  the  same  time  Mr.  Ellsworth  presented  a  petition  to 
the  board  of  commissioners  of  Crawford  County,  praying 
that  the  board  of  commissioners  of  Crawford  County  take 
the  proper  steps  to  build  a  bridge  across  Big  Blue  River, 
near  or  at  the  crossing  of  the  State  road. 


THE  SEVENTIES  333 

The  board,  after  due  deliberation,  appointed  William 
Ellsworth  and  James  Sloan  to  act  in  conjunction  with  the 
parties  appointed  by  the  board  of  commissioners  of  Har- 
rison County  to  examine  the  subject  matter  of  the  petition, 
the  most  suitable  place  for  the  bridge,  its  length,  height, 
and  probable  cost,  and  the  kind  of  bridge  needed,  if  any, 
and  report  at  the  next  meeting. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  board  of  commissioners  on 
December  8,  1869,  Messrs.  Ellsworth  and  Sloan  appeared 
and  reported  that  they  had  made  a  careful  examination  as 
they  had  deemed  necessary  to  arrive  at  an  approximate 
conclusion  at  four  different  points :  At  William  Roth- 
rock 's,  at  David  Cole's,  at  a  point  below  Joseph  Cole's,  on 
Zebulum  Leavenworth's  farm,  near  the  mouth  of  Big  Blue 
River.  They  had  examined  the  river  at  all  these  points  and 
no  other  point  was  suitable. 

At  Rothrock's  it  will  require  a  span  120  feet  upon  two 
abutments  48  feet  high.  The  cost  of  the  bridge  at  this 
point  they  estimated  at  $5,000;  at  Cole's  farm  it  will 
require  a  span  of  140  feet  or  170  feet  upon  two  abutments 
55  feet  high,  the  cost  of  which  is  about  $6,500.  At  the 
point  below  Joe  Cole's  farm  the  length  will  be  125  feet 
and  upon  two  abutments  about  62  feet  high ;  the  cost  here 
is  about  $6,000.  The  site  near  Leavenworth's  farm  will  be 
about  120  feet  long  and  upon  two  pillars  about  65  feet 
high.  The  cost  is  estimated  at  about  $8,000.  All  of  the 
estimates  above  were  made  after  careful  examination  and 
getting  the  pieces  of  bridge  material. 

The  men  reported  that  a  bridge  was  much  needed  at 
one  of  these  points.     Traffic  was  much  hindered  and  the 


334  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

people  were  handicapped  in  traveling,  since  crossing  the 
fiver  was  dangerous  at  times. 

About  the  same  time  William  Rothrock  brought  the 
following  report :  We,  the  undersigned  county  commis- 
sioners of  Harrison  County,  have  received  the  report  of  a 
majority  of  the  commissioners  appointed  to  examine  the 
sites  and  estimate  the  cost  of  a  bridge  across  Big  Blue. 
Besides  the  four  points  considered  there  were  two  more 
applications  for  bridges  so  the  board  of  commissioners  of 
Harrison  County  thought  best  not  to  go  any  farther  in 
the  matter  till  they  could  investigate  and  see  if  some  of 
the  cost  could  not  be  raised  by  subscription.  Signed: 
Peter  Hottel,  Amos  Johnson,  Samuel  B.  Davis,  County 
Commissioners.  The  board  of  commissioners  of  Crawford 
County  examined  the  report  carefully  and  decided  to  wait 
till  the  next  meeting  to  see  what  sum  could  be  raised  by 
subscription,  if  any. 

When  the  board  met  Thursday,  March  10,  1870,  the 
board  agreed  that  a  bridge  ought  to  be  constructed  at  or 
near  the  crossing  of  the  state  road.  Since  Harrison  County 
was  willing  to  assist  in  the  work  the  board  of  commis- 
sioners of  Crawford  County  was  willing  to  assist  in  the 
work  and  agreed  to  invite  the  commissioners  of  Harrison 
County  to  meet  with  the  commissioners  of  Crawford  County 
the  residence  of  David  Cole  on  Monday,  March  21,  1870, 
for  the  purpose  of  examining  said  premises  and  deciding 
upon  the  propriety  of  constructing  the  bridge. 

As  stated  above,  the  commissioners  held  a  joint  meeting 
at  the  home  of  David  Cole  on  March  21,  1870.  Those 
present  were  Peter  Hottell,  Amos  Johnson  and  Samuel 
Davis  of  Harrison  County  and  John  M.  B.  Scott,  M.   C. 


THE  SEVENTIES  335 

Froman  and  Houston  Miller.  The  petitions  were  received 
begging  for  a  bridge  over  the  Big  Blue  River  to  be  erected 
at  some  suitable  point  on  said  river.  Then  David  Cole 
presented  a  subscription  list  to  the  board  stating  how  much 
each  would  give  if  the  bridge  was  located  near  Cole's  ford. 
The  board  having  examined  the  estimates,  and  being  fully 
advised,  decided  that  the  bridge  ought  to  be  built  near 
Cole's  ford..  It  is  ordered  that  the  bridge  be  erected  suf- 
ficiently high  to  be  above  the  high  water  mark  of  1832. 
The  abutments  were  to  be  of  good  substantial  stone.  The 
opening  across  the  stream  was  to  be  of  100  foot  lay.  The 
superstructure  was  to  be  of  good  strong  material  and  the 
bridge  wide  enough  to  let  two  teams  pass. 

On  May  23,  1870,  the  board  of  commissioners  of  Har- 
rison County  met  with  the  board  of  commissioners  at  the 
court  house  in  Leavenworth.  All  of  the  members  were 
present.  For  Harrison  County:  Peter  Hottell,  Amos 
Johnson  and  Samuel  B.  Davis.  For  Crawford  County : 
Houston  Miller,  John  M.  B.  Scott  and  M.  C.  Froman. 
They  met  to  receive  proposals  for  the  masonry  and  the 
superstructure  of  the  bridge  at  Cole's  ford  over  Big  Blue. 
On  advisement  it  was  agreed  to  postpone  the  time  of  the 
opening  till  the  third  Monday  in  June;  until  said  time  the 
two  boards  adjourned. 

"When  the  boards  met  in  joint  session  June  20,  1870, 
the  commissioners  voted  to  build  an  iron  bridge  over  Big 
Blue.  The  members  agreed  to  postpone  the  opening  and 
letting  of  the  bids  till  the  second  Monday  in  October. 
Houston  Miller  was  chairman  of  the  session.  The  boards 
adjourned  to  meet  in  the  town  of  Leavenworth  on  the 
second  Thursday  in  October.     On  October  13th  the  board 


336  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

met  at  the  court  house  in  Leavenworth  and  agreed  to  let 
the  contracts  for  said  bridge  over  Big  Blue  River.  After 
examining  the  different  bids  the  boards  thought  best  to 
award  the  contract  to  Julius  Barbaraux  and  Company  for 
the  sum  of  $9,810,  they  being  considered  the  lowest  bidder. 
The  contract  and  specification  were  to  be  drawn  up  in  the 
future.  The  boards  adjourned  to  meet  in  joint  session  at 
Corydon  on  October  28,  1870.  At  this  session  John  B. 
Scott,  M.  C.  Froman,  Peter  Hottell  and  Sam  Davis  were 
present.  On  motion  Honorable  John  M.  B.  Scott  was  ap- 
pointed chairman  of  the  meeting.  The  contract  was 
awarded  to  John  Barbaraux,  who  presented  written  speci- 
fication for  the  masonry  for  said  bridge ;  also  a  drawing  for 
the  bridge  on  the  abutments  and  piers  which  was  filed  with 
the  auditor  of  Harrison  County.  The  board  ordered  the 
superintendents  appointed  to  contract  with  said  company 
to  erect  the  piers  45  feet  high,  or  higher  if  necessary,  to 
support  the  bridge  which  is  known  as  "Z.  King's  Patent 
Wrought  Iron  Tubular  Arch"  in  one  span  whose  length 
is  130  feet.  The  bridge  must  be  14  feet  wide,  furnished 
with  joists  and  floor  ready  for  use.  The  bridge  was  to  be 
completed  on  or  before  the  15th  day  of  October,  1871.  The 
superintendents  were  to  exact  a  sufficient  bond  from  the 
company  and  pay  the  company  as  follows:  When  the 
bond  was  approved  they  were  to  pay  them  $2,452.50.  On 
the  first  day  of  May,  1871,  they  were  to  pay  $2,452.50 
more;  $2,452.50  on  the  1st  of  July,  1871.  and  the  balance 
on  completion  of  the  bridge. 

It  was  agreed  that  the  sum  of  $5,000  should  be  appro- 
priated out  of  the  funds  of  Harrison  County  and  Crawford 
County   such  that   Harrison   County   paid   $3,744.50   and 


THE  SEVENTIES  337 

Crawford  County  paid  $1,255.50.  In  all,  Harrison  County 
was  to  pay  $7,346.71  and  Crawford  County  was  to  pay 
$2,463.29.  Samuel  J.  Wright  was  auditor  of  Harrison 
County  then. 

The  commissioners  of  the  two  counties  held  a  joint 
meeting  at  the  residence  of  David  Cole  on  September  12, 

1871,  to  consider  a  matter  relative  to  the  bridge  over  Big 
Blue  River.  It  was  agreed  that  the  approaches  to  the  Big 
Blue  bridge  be  made  of  wood  after  the  form  of  trestlework 
used  for  railroads  as  far  as  possible.  The  contract  to 
erect  the  approaches  to  said  bridge  was  let  to  William  P. 
Everdon  who  was  to  receive  $32  a  thousand  feet  board 
measure.  Bolts,  spikes  and  lumber  to  be  furnished  by  Mr. 
Everdon,  who  being  present,  proceeded  to  execute  said 
bond  for  its  faithful  performance.  The  boards  adjourned 
to  meet  on  December  7,  1871,  at  Leavenworth. 

On  October  12,  1871,  another  meeting  was  called  which 
was  held  at  the  house  of  David  Cole.  At  this  meeting 
John  Archibald  was  elected  president.  A  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  piers  and  the  bridge  was  made.  The  com- 
missioners being  satisfied  that  Barbaraux  and  Company 
had  constructed  the  bridge  according  to  the  specifications, 
voted  to  receive  the  bridge.  On  October  18,  1871,  the  com- 
missioners of  Crawford  County  met  at  the  court  house  in 
Leavenworth  and  borrowed  from  John  S.  Whitten  enough 
money  to  pay  $400  which  Crawford  County  owed  on  the 
Big  Blue  River  bridge.     The  note  was  due  January  8, 

1872.  Interest  on  the  note  was  $12.20. 

The  board  of  commissioners  of  Crawford  and  Harrison 
Counties  met  at  Dave  Cole's  house  on  December  7,  1871. 
After  careful  examination  of  the  approaches  to  the  bridge, 


338  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  boards  voted  to  receive  them.    No  further  business  to 
perform,  the  boards  adjourned. 


Several  years  after  the  Civil  War  there  grew  up  in  the 
county  of  Crawford  an  organization  known  as  the  Ku 
Klux  Klan.  They  were  the  descendants  of  the  old  Klan 
in  the  South.  These  members  wore  white  caps  when  they 
were  out  on  their  beats. 

Several  men  in  Crawford  County  were  severely  beaten 
by  these  raiders.  On  one  occasion  they  went  south  and 
west  of  Magnolia  to  what  was  then  the  John  Cosby  farm 
and  whipped  about  ten  one  night.  On  their  way  back  they 
came  through  Magnolia  and  called  at  the  home  of  Mr. 
Hosmer.  Hearing  the  hollowing,  he  went  to  the  door  and 
saw  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  men  sitting  on 
horseback.  The  captain  told  him  what  they  had  done  and 
told  him  to  go  out  next  day  and  tell  all  the  people  whom 
he  saw  about  the  affair.  Hosmer  stood  still  and  looked  at 
the  crowd.  The  old  captain  told  him  again  what  they  had 
done  and  told  him  to  go  out  next  day  and  tell  the  people 
about  the  affair.  He  stood  still  in  the  door.  Suddenly  the 
captain  yelled  out  at  him  with  a  terrible  bass  voice  and 
said  :  ' '  Do  you  hear  me  ? ' '  Hosmer  then  answered, 
"Yes."  Then  he  cried  out,  "Are  you  going  to  do  it? 7 
Hosmer  answered,  "Yes."  "Well,  you  had  better  do  it,'' 
replied  the  captain.    Then  they  rode  away  toward  English. 

Probably  the  hardest  whippings  ever  given  to  the  men 
was  administered  to  Bill  Toney  of  English,  Bill  Tower  of 
near  Magnolia,  Bill  Saltsgover,  Sam  Stroud  and  Frank 
Coleman. 


THE  SEVENTIES  339 

On  one  occasion  they  came  to  the  house  of  John  N. 
Pleasant  and  knocked  on  the  door.  When  told  to  come 
in,  the  door  opened  and  two  or  three  masked  men  entered, 
whom  Mr.  Pleasant  asked  in  a  courteous  manner  what 
he  could  do  for  them.  The  captain  said  that  he  would  be 
pleased  if  Mrs.  Pleasant,  who  they  had  heard  was  an 
excellent  scribe,  would  write  a  notice  for  them.  Mrs. 
Pleasant  arose  and  said  that  she  would  be  delighted  to 
write  the  notice  for  them  if  they  would  give  her  a  few 
minutes'  time  to  get  some  paper.  Using  paper  and  pencil, 
Mrs.  Pleasant  sat  down  at  the  table  and  wrote  in  a  bold 
handwrite  what  the  captain  dictated.  The  note  was  some- 
thing like  this:  "My  dear  Mr.  Coleman:  If  you  do  not 
quit  going  into  the  town  of  Leavenworth  and  staying  till 
after  dark,  and  stealing  from  people  on  your  way  home, 
we  shall  visit  you  in  the  near  future  with  our  compliments. 
Signed,  K.  K.  K. "  Then  the  captain  thanked  Mrs.  Pleas- 
ant for  the  writing  and  requested  Mr.  Pleasant  to  follow 
him  out  to  the  road.  On  reaching  the  highway  he  was 
much  surprised  to  find  a  large  number  of  men  on  horse- 
back, none  of  whom  he  had  ever  remembered  seeing  before. 
Suddenly  a  rattling  was  heard  in  the  corner  of  the  fence 
and  a  man  came  out  with  a  large  bundle  of  hickories  and 
told  the  captain,  by  curious  signs,  something.  Then  the 
captain  told  them  to  tie  the  notice  to  the  bundle  and  desig- 
nated three  of  the  men  to  carry  the  bundle  and  requested 
John  Pleasant  to  help  them  carry  the  bundle  and  set  it 
against  the  door  of  Frank  Coleman's  house.  Without 
changing  words  the  three  with  the  bundle,  assisted  by  Mr. 
Pleasant,  left  for  Coleman's  house  which  was  about  half  a 
mile  away.    On  arriving  at  the  house  Pleasant  heard  Cole- 


340         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

man  and  his  wife  talking,  for  they  had  not  gone  to  bed  yet, 
so  he  took  the  bundle,  and  stepping  to  one  side,  so  that  if 
Coleman  shot  out  he  would  not  hit  him,  he  struck  the  door 
three  terrible  raps,  and  then  as  he  set  the  bundle  down 
against  the  door  he  heard  Coleman  crawling  under  the  bed. 
Turning  to  leave  he  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  three 
men  had  run  away  down  in  the  field  and  were  waiting  for 
him.  The  men  came  back,  none  of  whom  would  talk  to 
Pleasant,  and  the  captain  wanted  to  know  if  the  duty  was 
performed  and  he  said  that  it  was.  The  three  nodded  their 
heads,  too.  Then  Pleasant  told  the  captain  that  if  he  did 
not  have  any  braver  men  than  those  three  who  ran,  that  it 
would  not  do  him  much  good  to  go  after  Coleman.  There 
was  a  general  laugh  on  all  sides.  They  bade  Pleasant  and 
his  wife  good-bye  and  rode  away. 

Frank  Coleman  lived  about  one  mile  southwest  of  the 
Tower  postoffice.  Coming  home  of  nights  he  would  put  a 
neighbor's  corn  shock  into  his  wagon.  When  that  gave  out 
he  would  take  his  sack  and  visit  some  neighbor's  field  and 
break  off  a  sack  full  of  corn.  Seeing  a  sack  of  potatoes  in 
the  patch  during  the  night  he  carried  it  away.  One  of 
the  neighbors  who  suffered  the  worst  was  Harry  Mel- 
com  and  his  son,  Willard  Melcom.  One  night  Coleman 
took  his  sack  and  went  to  Melcom 's  cornfield.  Just  as  he 
came  to  the  edge  of  the  field  he  heard  Willard  Melcom 
entering  the  field  on  the  other  side  with  his  gun  to  watch 
the  corn.  So  he  sat  down  in  the  fence  corner  where  he 
could  watch  Melcom.  Later  Uncle  Harvey  Melcom  came 
too.  He  crowded  into  a  shock  of  corn  near  where  Coleman 
lay  concealed.  After  he  had  been  in  the  shock  awhile, 
Coleman  heard  a  terrible  commotion  in  the  shock  and  loud 


THE  SEVENTIES  341 

oaths  sworn.  Then  Harvey  Melcom  came  out  of  the  shock. 
When  Willard  heard  the  trouble  he  came  across  to  where 
his  father  was  still  rubbing  his  head  and  swearing.  On 
inquiry  Willard  was  told  that  a  big  mouse  had  bitten  his 
father  through  the  ear  while  he  was  hiding  in  the  corn 
shock.  Then  Frank  heard  Willard  tell  him  to  go  home 
and  sleep  and  he  would  watch  all  night.  About  daybreak 
Mrs.  Melcom  came  to  the  edge  of  the  field  and  called  Wil- 
lard to  breakfast.  Frank  Coleman,  who  had  been  watching 
all  night,  sprang  over  the  fence  and  ran  into  the  field. 
Breaking  off  the  big  ears  and  running  from  shock  to 
shock  he  soon  had  a  sack  full  of  large  ears  which  he  could 
easily  get  on  the  outside  of  the  shocks.  Then  he  left  with 
his  sack  of  corn  just  about  the  time  the  Melcoms  came 
back  after  breakfast.  When  the  men  saw  his  tracks  in  the 
frost  and  the  missing  corn  ears  from  the  shocks  they  were 
furious. 

Such  was  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Coleman.  He  told  neigh- 
bors about  the  above  incident  just  before  he  left  the  county. 

One  night  about  a  month  after  he  received  the  K.  K.  K. 
notice  the  Whitecaps  visited  him.  His  house  was  built  on 
the  side  of  the  hill,  making  one  side  rather  high.  Coleman 
jumped  out  at  the  back  window  and  escaped.  After  about 
six  weeks  they  came  for  him  again.  Two  big  men  were 
stationed  at  the  window.  He  leaped  from  the  window  but 
lit  in  the  arms  of  one  of  the  men,  who  held  him  until  the 
others  got  there.  Then  they  tied  him  to  an  apple  tree  and 
gave  him  a  terrible  flogging.  Coleman  stayed  at  home  a 
few  days  and  then  left  his  family.  No  one  knows  what 
became  of  him.  Before  leaving  he  told  several  people  about 
his  episode  with  the  Melcoms  and  the  mouse. 


342  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

When  Billie  Tower  was  whipped  there  were  four  or 
five  other  men  working  for  Charles  W.  Tower.  They  were 
taken  out  into  the  yard  and  held.  From  them  the  writer 
has  the  f  olloAving  account :  "No  one  did  any  talking  but 
the  captain.  He  went  around  asking  the  men  their  names. 
When  he  came  to  Billie  Tower  (William  Henry  TowTer)  he 
cried  out :  '  Here  he  is,  boys.  Tie  him  up. '  His  arms  were 
raised  and  put  around  a  walnut  tree  as  high  as  he  could 
reach.  Then  his  wrists  were  tied  with  a  strong  rope. 
When  all  was  ready  the  captain  said:  'No.  1,  step  out 
and  lay  on  ten ! '  A  tall  man  with  a  mask  over  his  face 
arose,  selected  a  good  hickory  about  like  an  old-fashioned 
buggy-whip,  and  adjusted  his  cap  on  his  head,  taking  his 
time  like  some  man  going  to  bat  in  a  game  of  ball,  began 
whipping  him  over  the  hips.  There  were  about  five 
numbers  out  before  it  was  over.  Tower  said  that  No.  3  hit 
the  hardest.  Then  Tower  was  taken  back  and  put  into 
bed.  The  crowd  left.  The  men  who  witnessed  the  affair 
knew  none  of  the  men.  Tower  became  a  good  citizen  after 
that.    This  happened  late  in  the  eighties." 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE   COUNTY   IN   THE   EIGHTIES 

A  history  of  the  county  in  the  eighties  would  not  be 
complete  without  an  account  of  the  various  attempts  to  re- 
locate the  county  seat. 

When  the  commissioners  met  September  3,  1882,  various 
citizens  of  the  county  appeared  before  the  board  and  pre- 
sented petitions  praying  that  the  county  seat  be  relocated 
at  English. 

The  board  voted  that  no  pay  should  be  granted  for 
carrying  any  petitions  or  clerical  work  of  any  kind. 

William  H.  Ott  with  twenty-eight  others  appeared  and 
filed  a  petition  No.  31,  to  which  many  men  objected  on 
account  of  the  manner  of  getting  the  signatures. 

Thomas  B.  Ridenour  and  nine  others  filed  petition  No. 
23  to  which  a  general  objection  by  others  was  made. 
Later  a  large  number  of  petitions  for  both  sides  was  filed. 
The  board  ordered  that  the  auditor  should  get  these  peti- 
tions and  keep  them  in  his  office.  Also  that  the  auditor 
was  not  to  draw  any  salary  for  this  work. 

Then  John  T.  Gilliland,  Preston  Arwick,  John  W.  Stull 
and  James  B.  Mix  filed  a  remonstrance  against  W.  H. 
Ott's  petition,  claiming  that  many  who  had  signed  it  now 
had  their  names  on  the  remonstrance. 

343 


344         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  board  set  a  date  when  all  the  petitions  were  to  be 
in,  after  which  no  new  ones  were  to  be  received. 

But  the  people  who  favored  English  became  discour- 
aged, withdrew  their  petitions,  and  left.  So  Leavenworth 
won  the  case  that  year. 

In  1883,  June  5,  many  citizens  appeared  before  the 
county  commissioners  and  presented  a  number  of  petitions 
to  remove  the  county  seat  to  Grantsburg.  Colonel  Anthony 
and  Jerry  Suddarth  were  employed  as  lawyers  for  them. 
The  petitions  numbering  1  to  71  were  filed.  They  repre- 
sented Hamilton  Martin,  Christopher  Taylor  and  Stephen 
Roberson  as  responsible  petitioners  or  parties. 

The  opposing  men  met  and  filed  objection  to  certain 
petitions  and  requested  that  petitions  Nos.  4,  12,  8,  21,  67, 
51,  58  and  68  be  not  received.  The  attorneys  made  motion 
that  the  petitioners  be  allowed  to  amend  their  petitions,  to 
which  their  opponents  objected.  The  board  overruled  the 
objection  and  granted  a  right  to  the  petitioners  to  amend 
the  petitions.  The  petitions  No.  4,  51,  67,  86,  having  been 
corrected  by  adding  notary  seals  to  them,  were  presented 
again.     No.  8  was  also  corrected. 

The  remonstrators  moved  that  the  petitions  be  cast  out 
but  the  motion  was  overruled.  Then  they  submitted  a  re- 
monstrance on  which  were  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
names  who  had  signed  the  petitions  but  later  withdrew 
their  names,  but  the  board  would  not  accept  the  petition. 
Later  W.  L.  Temple,  Josiah  Shaw,  George  Sherron  and 
John  B.  McFall  tried  to  testify  that  twenty-five  petitioners 
had  signed  the  remonstrance  later.  The  petitioners  ob- 
jected and  the  board  sustained  their  objection.     Then  the 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  EIGHTIES  345 

petitioners  tried  to  knock  out  remonstrances  1  to  10  but 
failed. 

After  much  time  and  argument  these  facts  were  evi- 
dent : 

1.  There  were  about  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  the  voters 
on  the  petitions. 

2.  A  site  had  been  given  the  county. 

3.  A  sum  of  money  to  defray  the  cost  had  been  given 
the  county. 

Then  the  board  ordered  the  seat  of  justice  moved  to 
Grantsburg. 

That  William  Barnes,  an  architect  of  New  Albany,  be 
selected  to  draw  up  the  plans  for  a  house  to  be  made  of 
stone  or  brick  and  cost  about  $15,000.  The  property  was  to 
be  examined  and  a  rate  set  to  raise  the  tax. 

At  that  time  the  objectors  made  an  appeal  to  the  circuit 
court  which  was  granted  on  filing  an  appeal  bond  of  $800. 
The  contest  had  now  lasted  from  July  9  to  July  26.  The 
cost  of  the  county  seat  fight  was : 

Commissioners   fees    $178.50 

Auditor's  fees   24.30 

Witnesses'  fees 390.40 

Sheriff's  fees   78.95 


Total  cost     $672.15 

No  record  was  ever  found  to  show  if  this  account  was 
paid. 

The  case  was  taken  to  Jasper  for  trial.  After  an  excit- 
ing trial  in  the  circuit  court  there,  Leavenworth  won  the 


346  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

suit  over  English.  The  hard  fighters  for  Leavenworth 
were  W.  L.  Temple,  M.  S.  Fleming,  David  Cole,  John  Bell, 
William  Ellsworth,  W.  B.  Allen,  P.  M.  Ouerbacker,  Josiah 
Shaw,  S.  T.  Lyons  and  J.  R.  Collins. 

The  next  move  came  in  1886.  On  March  1,  1886, 
W.  H.  H.  Toney,  Henry  Smith,  W.  T.  Carr,  W.  H.  Denbo, 
James  Pro  and  1,469  others,  presented  a  petition  praying 
that  an  election  be  held  in  Crawford  County  to  determine 
the  will  of  the  people  on  whether  a  new  seat  of  justice 
should  be  located  at  English.  They  deposited  $200  to  pay 
an  architect  for  the  plans  and  gave  two  acres  of  ground  on 
which  the  house  and  jail  might  be  built. 

The  board  requested  W.  L.  Temple,  who  was  auditor, 
to  write  to  the  governor  about  the  matter.  The  case 
was  laid  over  till  next  term  of  court  which  was  held  in 
June,  1886. 

In  response  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Temple,  Governor  Isaac 
Gray  appointed  David  Jordan,  W.  H.  H.  Hudson  and 
George  Fielding  as  commissioners  to  evaluate  the  property. 
The  men  met  at  the  court  house  May  20  and  assessed  the 
amount  as  follows : 

Real  Estate    $3,200 

Buildings  and  improvements   2,900 

Value  of  land  with  building 300 

The  board  ordered  the  election  held  on  August  17,  1886. 
The  commissioners  who  examined  the  property  were 
allowed  $70  which  the  petitioners  paid  down  for  the  county 
commissioners. 

The  following  campaign  was  a  hotly  contested  one. 
Much  hard  feeling  was  aroused  on  each  side.     The  English 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  EIGHTIES  347 

faction  carried  the  northwest  part  of  the  county,  but  with 
the  heavy  vote  of  Leavenworth  and  central  part  of  the 
county,  English  was  defeated  by  a  small  margin  of  about 
forty-eight  votes. 

They  were  ordered  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  election 
which  were  as  follows : 

Democratic   printing    $  8.00 

W.  B.  Burford,  for  ballots 27.98 

T.  B.  Cummings,  notices    21.00 

Union    13.25 

Johnson     13.25 

Liberty    14.25 

Ohio     14.25 

Whisky  Run    14.50 

Jennings     14.50 

Boone    13.40 

Total   expenses    $149.65 

The  treasurer  paid  the  bill  out  of  the  $200  which  the 
English  crowd  had  deposited  and  gave  back  the  rest, 
amounting  to  $50.32.     Thus  closed  another  attempt. 

Matters  relative  to  the  county  seat  rested  till  early  in 
the  nineties  when  another  outbreak  occurred.  Much  will 
be  said  about  it  later. 

The  Louisville  and  St.  Louis  Airline  Railroad  was  com- 
pleted in  the  early  eighties.  The  trains  ran  over  the  road. 
Many  men  said  that  it  could  not  be  done.  Two  tunnels 
were  cut  through  the  hills  between  Marengo  and  Taswell, 
Condra  tunnel  and  Patton's  tunnel.     The  work  had  been 


348  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

delayed  for  several  years  when  the  first  company  failed, 
but  later  it  was  reorganized  with  new  capital.  The  rail- 
road suit  to  collect  $32,000  from  the  county  failed.  The 
case  was  carried  to  the  higher  courts  when  the  county  won 
the  decision.  Then  trouble  came  up  over  whether  the 
county  should  receive  any  tax  from  the  railroad.  On 
September  12,  1885,  one  finds  the  commissioners  ordering 
R.  N.  Peckinpaugh  to  get  up  the  proper  papers  to  file,  if 
necessary,  in  the  United  States  Courts  at  Chicago  for  col- 
lecting the  tax  which  was  then  due  the  county.  The 
papers  were  to  be  given  to  John  Pankey,  who  was  to  pro- 
ceed to  Indianapolis  and  Chicago  and  collect  the  tax  if 
necessary.     The  amount  due  the  county  then  was  $4,544. 

When  the  new  railroad  was  completed,  and  the  people 
actually  saw  that  the  trains  would  run,  a  company  was 
organized  to  build  a  road  from  New  Albany  to  Tell  City. 
The  survey  of  this  road  ran  through  Jennings,  Ohio  and 
Union  townships.  Then  these  people  were  eager  to  help 
build  the  railroad.  So  an  election  was  held  in  Union 
township  at  which  236  votes  were  cast.  Of  that  number 
145  were  for  the  railroad  and  91  were  against  it.  John  W. 
Senn,  inspector  and  John  Seaton,  judge.  The  above  elec- 
tion was  held  May  20,  1884. 

Jennings  township  voted  on  the  proposition  May  16, 
1884.  They  were  to  give  $3,380  if  the  road  was  built. 
There  were  288  votes  cast,  271  of  which  were  for  the  road 
and  17  were  against  it.  Later  they  asked  for  $5,380  and 
tax  was  levied. 

The  vote  in  Ohio  township  was  203,  of  which  34  were 
for  the  New  Albany,  Leavenworth  and  Cannelton  Railroad 
Company  and  169  were  against  it.    Jacob  Wiseman,  inspec- 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  EIGHTIES  319 

tor,  and  Asa  Lynch,  judge.  The  election  was  held  July  23, 
1884. 

The  new  stock  law  was  enacted  in  the  early  eighties. 
This  law  put  the  power  to  some  extent  in  the  hands  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  county.  Much  bitter  opposition  arose 
relative  to  the  law.  In  Jennings  township  not  many 
people  favored  the  stock  law.  Captain  William  Everdon, 
who  ran  a  big  sawmill  up  near  Sharptown,  favored  the  law. 
The  good  citizens  up  there  held  a  meeting  to  protest  against 
the  law.  Many  thought  that  it  would  ruin  them  if  they 
had  to  build  fences  and  keep  up  their  stock.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  wait  on  Captain  Everdon  and  keep  him 
from  advocating  the  new  law.  Oliver  Miller  came  down  to 
the  sawmill  and  warned  Everdon.  But  Everdon  gave  him 
a  "cursing"  and  Miller  went  home  to  mind  his  own  busi- 
ness after  that. 

On  the  hill  above  Magnolia  one  day  A.  J.  Batman  met 
him  and  told  him  that  he  would  get  hanged  if  he  did  not 
stop  advocating  pike  roads  and  stock  laws. 

On  April  21,  1884,  William  H.  Conrad  and  191  others 
came  and  petitioned  the  board  to  make  a  record  allowing 
certain  animals  to  run  out.  The  board  allowed  hogs,  cat- 
tle, sheep  and  horses  to  run  out  but  not  bulls,  stallions  and 
jacks. 

Then  H.  B.  Meylin  and  101  others  came  and  begged 
that  the  board  allow  certain  stock  to  run  out.  The  board 
granted  them  the  right  to  let  hogs,  cattle  and  sheep  run 
out  in  Boone  township. 

Then  came  A.  J.  Small  and  278  others  who  asked  the 
board  to  let  stock  run  out.  The  board  let  hogs,  cattle  and 
sheep  run  out  till  further  notice  in  Jennings  township. 


350         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

G.  W.  Davis  and  115  more  from  Union  appeared  but 
the  board  continued  the  matter  till  the  next  term  of  court. 

John  Cunningham  of  Sterling  township  presented  his 
petition,  but  others  objected  and  the  matter  was  continued 
to  the  next  term. 

At  the  December  term  in  1884  Lewis  Pierson  and  H.  K. 
Batman  with  252  others,  appeared  and  asked  that  hogs 
and  sheep  be  kept  up.  Later  the  board  ordered  that  sheep 
and  hogs  be  kept  up  in  Jennings  and  Ohio  townships. 

March  3,  1886,  the  board  cancelled  all  orders  relative 
to  stock  running  out  and  issued  a  new  order  that  cows  and 
calves  might  run  out,  but  not  bulls.  Later  the  law  became 
general  so  that  all  stock  had  to  be  kept  up.  This  was  one 
of  the  best  laws  ever  enacted. 

The  poor  farm  was  still  an  item  of  expense  to  the  tax- 
payer of  the  county.  John  Archibald  was  selected  to  build 
a  house  on  the  poor  farm  about  1882.  The  room  was  to  be 
20  feet  by  14  feet.  The  crazy  people  were  to  be  put  into 
this  new  house  for  safe  keeping.  On  March  4,  1880,  the 
commissioners,  William  Gibbs,  James  Gilmore  and  William 
Wilks,  ordered  all  the  paupers  taken  to  the  poor  farm. 

June  6,  1887,  the  board  voted  to  sell  the  poor  farm  and 
buy  another  near  the  center  of  the  county.  One  day  in  Sep- 
tember, 1887,  Hamilton  Martin  and  William  Landiss  voted 
to  sell  the  old  farm  to  James  Froman  and  buy  Froman's 
farm  for  $5,500.  Froman  offered  $1,000  for  the  old  farm 
back.  H.  K.  Batman,  the  other  commissioner,  voted 
against  the  proposition.  The  new  farm  was  situated  in 
the  northwest  corner  of  Jennings  township,  about  six  miles 
from  Leavenworth.    It  had  238%  acres  in  the  farm.     One 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  EIGHTIES  351 

may  see  the  deed  on  page  188  of  book  9  of  the  commis- 
sioners' records. 

The  people  of  Boone  township  needed  a  bridge  over 
Mill  Creek  very  much.  A  petition  being  presented  to  the 
board,  March  3,  1885,  the  board  met  April  7,  1885,  and 
asked  for  bids  on  April  9,  1885,  to  the  15th  of  April.  The 
Wrought  Iron  Bridge  Company  submitted  a  bid  for  $2,655  ; 
Champion  Bridge  Company,  Williamsport,  Ohio,  one  for 
$2,936.25 ;  and  the  Massillon  Company  from  Ohio  at  $1,200. 
The  board  rejected  all  the  bids.  The  Indianapolis  Bridge 
Company  bid  $1,180  and  received  the  contract.  The  same 
company  received  the  contract  for  the  Whisky  Run  bridge. 

The  charges  for  the  various  sections  were : 

Heavy  masonry,  perch    $7.34 

Light  masonry,  perch 6.05 

Digging,  dry,  a  cubic  yard .15 

Digging,  wet,  a  cubic  yard .38 

The  bridge  was  received  and  paid  for  on  August  4, 
1885.     H.  C.  Smith  of  Indianapolis  built  the  bridge. 

Expenses  were: 

For  north  abutment  on  Mill  Creek  Bridge. 

3091/2  perches  of  stone  at  $3.37   $1,043.00 

246  yards  of  fill  on  north  at  25c 61.50 

141  yards  of  digging  in  rock  at  28c 39.48 

200  yards  of  wing  wall  at  18c 36.00 

Total  for  north  abutment    $1,179.98 


352         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

South   Abutment. 

256  perches  of  stone  at  $3.75   $  867.72 

181  yards  of  digging  at  18c 32.58 

181  yards  of  filling  at  25c 45.25 

70  yards  of  rough  stone  at  50c 35.00 


Total  for  south  abutment   $    980.55 

Grand  total  for  bridge    $2,160.53 

The  board  held  a  joint  session,  at  which  Edward  Powers 
was  employed  to  superintend  the  repairs  on  the  Milltown 
bridge.  M.  C.  Froman  was  to  superintend  the  work,  while 
J.  J.  Clark  was  appointed  to  supervise  the  work  on  the 
Dry  Run  bridge. 

The  Whisky  Run  bridge  cost: 

244%  perches  of  stone  at  $3.37  $823.96 

88  yards  of  fill  at  25c 22.00 

140  yards  of  digging  at  18c 25.00 

38  y2  yards  of  diggings  at  18c 6.93 


Total  for  the  bridge $878.04 

The  year  of  1884  was  noted  for  the  high  water  on  the 
Ohio  River.  Much  damage  was  done  to  the  river  towns. 
The  bridge  over  Little  Blue  at  Marion  Archibald's  farm 
was  in  danger.  The  back  water  came  up  the  Little  Blue 
River  and  covered  the  bridge.  The  board  allowed  Marion 
Archibald  $500  for  caring  for  the  bridge  till  the  high  water 
went  down. 


THE  COUNT\   IN  THE  EIGHTIES  353 

July  6,  1883,  the  board  granted  a  contract  to  the 
Wrought  Iron  Bridge  Company  of  Canton,  Ohio,  to  erect 
a  bridge  over  Dry  Run  Creek.  It  was  50  feet  long,  of  one 
span  47  feet  in  the  clear.  The  roadway  was  12  feet.  The 
bridge  was  to  be  completed  by  August  30,  1883,  at  a  cost 
of  $495. 

The  high  water  of  1883  did  much  damage  to  the  bridge 
at  Cole's  ford  over  Big  Blue.  The  board  ordered  on  March 
3,  1883,  estimations  made  for  the  bridge.  The  two  boards 
were  to  meet  at  Cole's  ford  on  April  4,  1883.  Bids  were 
advertised  for  and  specifications  drawn  on  April  4,  1883. 

On  May  23,  1883,  a  joint  meeting  of  the  board  was 
held  at  Corydon.  These  men  were  present :  William 
Wilks,  M.  C.  Froman  and  Anthony  Allstott.  From  Har- 
rison County  were  Edward  Walbur,  Henry  Lush  and 
George  Crawford.  The  two  boards  advertised  for  bids 
for  the  repairing  of  tho  bridge  and  when  the  bids  were 
opened  these  were  submitted : 

Smith  Bridge  Company   $4,155.00 

King  Bridge  Company  4,325.00 

Columbus  Bridge   Company    4,512.00 

Wrought  Iron  Bridge  Company 4,223.75 

Mars   Bridge   Company    ! 4,100.00 

The  boards  rejected  all  these  bids  and  proceeded  to 
advertise  again  for  the  iron  and  wood  work  to  complete 
the  bridge. 

The  Wrought  Iron  Bridge  Company  was  awarded  the 
contract  for  $2,549 ;  the  Bru  and  Hudson  Company  for 
the  masonry  at  $8.00  per  yard;  filling  at  25c  per  yard; 


354         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

concrete  macadamizing  at  $3.00.  The  bridge  was  to  be 
completed  by  September  2,  1883.  C.  F.  Crecelius  was  to 
supervise  the  work  at  $1.50  per  day. 

A  joint  meeting  of  the  board  wasa  held  at  Corydon 
September  6,  1883.     Paid  Hudson  Byrne  Company: 

Crawford  County's  part   $247.95 

Harrison  County's  part 814.83 

A  joint  meeting  of  the  board  was  held  at  Corydon 
1883,  and  paid  for  the  completion  of  the  bridge : 

Crawford  County's  part   .$617.85 

Harrison  County's  part  2,028.00 

The  high  water  of  1884  damaged  the  bridge  some. 
David  Cole  was  allowed  $2.00  for  caring  for  the  bridge 
when  the  high  water  was  over  it. 

The  election  of  1888  was  a  very  important  event  in 
Crawford  County.  The  people,  generally  speaking,  enjoy 
elections.  Much  vote  buying  was  done  on  all  sides.  The 
Republican  plan  was  to  put  so  much  money  in  the  hands 
of  certain  men  and  hold  them  responsible  for  delivering  the 
votes.  One  neighbor  of  the  writer  had  $22  of  the  boodle 
given  him  and  was  told  to  put  it  where  it  would  do  the 
most  good.  He  paid  out  about  $4  of  it  and  decided  that 
it  would  do  the  most  good  in  his  own  pocket  So  there  it 
stayed.  The  results  were :  Cleveland  carried  the  county 
by  a  safe  margin.  Arthur  Stewart  was  elected  treasurer; 
James  Bobbitt,  county  auditor;  Burton  Brown,  sheriff;  Mr. 
Stewart  and  Mr.  Bobbitt  were  Republicans.  He  had  been 
county  superintendent  two  years  just  previous  to  his  elec- 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  EIGHTIES  355 

tion.  He  was  a  man  of  high  ideals,  a  good  politician,  and  a 
minister  of  the  Christian  church. 

It  was  during  the  eighties  that  the  first  telephone  line 
was  built  in  Crawford  County.  The  Ohio  Valley  Tele- 
phone Company,  with  J.  B.  Speed,  president;  William  H. 
Munday,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  Captain  Gifford, 
general  manager,  came  from  New  Albany  by  way  of  Cory- 
don.  The  exchange  was  installed  about  the  year  of  1882. 
The  news  of  the  outside  world  could  be  heard  then. 

The  year  of  1883  occurred  the  death  of  Doctor  Hawn, 
who  was  the  biggest  man  who  ever  lived  in  our  county  He 
was  a  native  of  Ohio  and  came  west  in  the  late  fifties. 
When  the  boat  stopped  at  Alton  to  load  and  unload  goods 
he  engaged  in  conversation  with  several  of  the  town  people. 
When  they  learned  that  he  was  a  doctor  they  persuaded 
him  to  land  there  and  locate,  for  the  town  of  Alton  needed 
a  doctor.  One  day  he  had  a  call  to  visit  a  patient  near 
Mason  Bird's  home  on  the  river  bluff  north  of  Predonia. 
He  was  entertained  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Hollcroft,  at  whose 
home  he  met  Mr.  Hollcroft 's  daughter,  whom  he  after- 
ward married.  Doctor  Hawn  served  in  the  Civil  War  with 
distinction.  He  was  nominated  to  run  for  secretary  of 
state  in  1880  and  was  elected.  When  called  upon  to  make 
a  speech  at  the  convention  he  said :  ' '  Boys,  I  was  placed 
on  this  ticket  to  give  weight  to  it.  When  the  frost  is  on 
the   pumpkin  I  shall  be  with  you,  boys." 

One  day  a  lady  stopped  him  on  the  street  and  inquired 
about  his  weight.  He  said:  "Madam,  I  weigh  exactly  365 
pounds,  one  pound  for  each  day  in  the  year.  Here  is  my 
card  with  my  compliments.  Emanuel  Hawn,  Secretary  of 
State." 


356         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

During  the  late  eighties  a  young  man  named  William 
Neal  came  into  Crawford  County  and  introduced  baseball. 
The  records  are  not  clear  about  the  matter,  but  as  far  as 
can  now  be  known,  a  field  was  used  near  Mansfield  school 
on  the  Adams  farm.  From  that  day  till  this  the  game 
has  been  a  favorite  of  all  the  sports  of  the  county. 

Crawford  County  commissioners  on  December  7,  1886, 
voted  to  pay  $100  to  the  State  Soldiers '  Monument  Associa- 
tion to  place  a  stone  as  a  monument  to  the  boys  who  fought 
and  those  who  died  in  the  Civil  War,  in  that  monument. 

According  to  the  law  of  1889  the  county  commissioners 
divided  the  county  into  voting  precincts  on  June  10,  1889. 
The  townships  and  places  were  thus : 

Boone— Alton. 

Jennings — No.  1,  Leavenworth;  No.  2,  Magnolia;  No. 
3,  McLane. 

Johnson — No.  1,  Eckerty;  No.  2,  Leatherbury. 

Liberty — No.  1,  Old  Town  in  Marengo;  No.  2,  New 
Town  in  Marengo. 

Ohio — No.  1,  Fredonia;  No.  2,  Crecelius  Cross  Roads. 

Patoka— No.  1,  Taswell;  No.  2,  Wickliffe. 

Sterling — No.  1,  English  School  House,  First  Ward; 
No.  2,  No.  10  school. 

Union — No.  1,  Grantsburg;  No.  2,  Marietta. 

Whisky  Run— No.  1,  Milltown;  No.  2,  Pilot  Knob. 

On  June  9,  1880,  John  H.  Stewart,  of  Marengo,  brought 
suit  against  John  N.  Breeden,  who  had  been  trustee  of 
Liberty  township,  to  recover  the  books  and  funds  which 
Breeden  was  supposed  to  have.     Stewart  had  employed 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  EIGHTIES  357 

Zenor  and  Peckinpaugh,  while  Breeden's  bondsmen  en- 
gaged Jerry  L.  Suddarth  to  defend  him  and  the  bondsmen. 
The  county  commissioners  decided  that  John  Stewart 
was  legally  elected  township  trustee  of  Liberty  township 
and  was  entitled  to  the  books,  records,  all  legal  papers,  and 
all  the  funds  of  the  township.  Breeden  had  run  away,  but 
the  records  showed  a  balance  of: 

Balance    $235.95 

Special     361.63 

Township  Revenue   115.52 

Road  Tax   92.97 

Dog    Tax 104.40 


Total  due   $910.37 

The  board  ordered  Breeden's  bond  sued  unless  the 
money  be  paid  in  at  once.  The  matter  was  settled  and 
the  money  paid. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

CHAPTER  ON  EDUCATION   CONTINUED 

The  following  figures  will  show  how  the  salary  of 
teachers  varied  in  Crawford  County : 

Year  of  1861:  Men  teachers,  per  day,  $1.10;  lady 
teachers,  $1.00.  1875  :  Men  teachers,  $1.75  ;  lady  teachers, 
$1.64.  1880:  Men  teachers,  $1.68;  lady  teachers,  $1.58. 
1885:  Men  teachers,  $1.94;  lady  teachers,  $1.81.  1888: 
Men  teachers,  $2.10;  lady  teachers,  $2.00;  1892:  Men 
teachers,  $1.96;  lady  teachers,  $1.71.  1900:  Men  teachers, 
$1.95;  lady  teachers,  $1.80.  1906:  Men  teachers,  $2.42; 
lady  teachers,  $2.42.  1907:  Men  teachers,  $2.50;  lady 
teachers,  $2.50. 

Many  interesting  stories  are  told  about  these  schools  in 
the  dark  days  from  1853  to  1873,  one  of  which  is  given. 
When  Mrs.  Allen  of  Fredonia  was  a  little  girl  Bartlett 
Baker  taught  the  Fredonia  school.  Every  few  days  he 
would  go  down  to  the  Collingwood  tan-yard  and  would 
skin  out  a  number  of  the  tails  from  the  beef  hides  which 
were  brought  there  for  tanning.  Many  of  the  hides  did 
not  smell  the  best  since  the  beeves  might  have  been  killed 
several  days.  He  put  his  pot  on  the  fire  and  made  soup 
out  of  these  tails,  many  of  which  were  spoiled.  Mrs.  Frank 
Allen  said  that  when  the  soup  began  to  boil  and  the  tails 

358 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  359 

to  cook,  the  odor  was  so  sickening  that  she  could  hardly 
endure  to  sit  in  the  room. 

The  following  figures  will  show  the  number  of  licenses 
issued  from  1864  to  1898 : 

Year  1864 — Two  year  license :  Men,  9 ;  women,  5. 
Eighteen  months'  license:  Men,  2.  Twelve  months'  license: 
Men,  3;  women,  1.  Six  months'  license:  Men,  12;  women, 
4.  Year  1866 — Two  year  men,  one.  Eighteen  months : 
Men,  18;  women,  3.  Twelve  months:  Men,  12;  women,  5. 
Six  months:  Men,  9;  women,  2.  Year  1871 — Eighteen 
months :  Men,  11 ;  women,  4.  Twelve  months  :  Men,  19  ; 
women,  4.  Six  months :  Men,  12 ;  women,  3.  Year  1875 : 
Two  year:  Men,  2.  Eighteen  months:  Men,  4.  Twelve 
months:  Men,  22.  Six  months:  Men,  37.  1882— Two 
year :  Men,  7 ;  women,  7.  Eighteen  months :  Men,  17 ; 
women,  6.  Twelve  months :  Men,  12 ;  women,  5.  Six 
months:  Men,  40;  women,  22.  1885 — Two  years:  Men, 
18 ;  women,  3.  Twelve  months  :  Men,  42 ;  women,  13.  Six 
months  :  Men,  30 ;  women,  6.  Year  1898 — Two  year :  Men, 
24.     Six  months :  Men,  32. 

There  were  no  means  provided  between  1853  and  1873 
in  Crawford  County  for  higher  education  other  than  the 
district  schools.  A  few  students  who  were  desirous  of  re- 
ceiving a  good  education  went  to  Bloomington.  Seth 
Marshall  Leavenworth,  Jr.,  graduated  from  Indiana  Uni- 
versity with  the  A.  M.  degree  in  1839,  but  the  degree  did 
not  mean  much  then.  When  a  man  completed  the  first 
three  years  of  college  he  was  granted  the  M.  A.  degree. 
After  about  1873  this  custom  was  changed. 

A  new  law  in  1865  provided  for  a  State  Normal  School. 

Another  far-reaching  law  was  enacted  in  1865.    It  pro- 


360  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

vided  for  a  county  and  township  institute.  The  township 
institute  was  really  a  visiting  day  where  all  the  teachers 
once  each  month  went  to  visit  a  teacher.  They  stayed  all 
day  with  this  teacher  who  taught  the  classes. 

The  General  Assembly  in  1873  enacted  a  new  law 
which  provided  for  a  county  superintendent  who  was  to 
be  elected  by  the  township  trustees  on  the  first  Monday  in 
June  for  a  term  of  two  years.  He  was  to  be  empowered 
to  license  teachers,  hold  institutes,  watch  the  school  funds, 
and  have  a  general  supervision  over  all  the  schools.  The 
new  law  did  away  with  school  examiners. 

Empowered  by  the  law,  the  trustees  met  at  the  court 
house  in  Leavenworth  on  Monday,  June  2,  1873,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  elect  a  county  superintendent.  Those  present 
were :  Jennings  township,  John  N.  Bahr ;  Johnson  town- 
ship, Elisha  Brown;  Liberty  township,  George  S.  Balthis; 
Ohio  township,  William  H.  Conrad;  Patoka  township, 
William  H.  Buford ;  Sterling  township,  Joseph  W.  Brown ; 
Union  township,  Joseph  Landis;  Whisky  Run  township, 
W.  S.  Daniel.  John  N.  Bahr  of  Jennings  township  was 
selected  as  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  Malachi 
Monk,  auditor  of  the  county,  was  made  secretary.  The 
president  called  for  the  tickets  and  the  secret  ballot  was 
taken,  the  result  of  which  was :  Alexander  Sipes,  3  votes ; 
John  W.  C.  Springston,  5  votes;  John  M.  Johnson,  1  vote. 
John  W.  C.  Springston,  having  received  a  majority  of  the 
votes,  was  declared  elected  county  superintendent  for  a 
a  term  of  two  years. 

Mr.  Springston  was  born  in  Spencer  County  and  at- 
tended school  under  Professor  Johnson  in  the  old  Academy 
at  Marengo.     Doctor  Hahn  of  Leavenworth  became  inter- 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  361 

ested  in  the  young  man.  He  helped  him  to  get  a  school  at 
Leavenworth.  Springston  being  a  poor  young  man  greatly 
appreciated  the  help  Doctor  Hahn  gave  him.  During  that 
school  year  it  became  necessary  to  punish  Stewart  Barnett 
and  Lige  Hahn.  These  two  boys  had  put  strips  of  paste- 
board inside  of  their  clothes  in  school  so  that  if  they  were 
whipped  the  pieces  of  pasteboard  would  deaden  the  blows 
some.  When  the  whipping  was  over  the  floor  was  all  cov- 
ered with  pasteboard.  While  staying  at  Doctor  Halm's 
home  he  met  Dora  Jenette  Conrad,  who  lived  at  Fredonia. 
A  strong  friendship  grew  up  between  them,  culminating  in 
marriage. 

During  the  first  term  of  his  office  the  state  authorized 
the  county  commissioners  to  appoint  a  superintendent,  so 
on  the  first  Monday  in  June,  1875,  John  Batman  was 
appointed,  but  he  did  not  serve  but  a  few  months  until  the 
right  was  given  back  to  the  trustees  who  reappointed  Mr. 
John  Springston,  who  was  re-elected  in  1877  on  June  4. 
That  day  the  trustees  met  at  the  court  house  in  Leaven- 
worth and  organized  by  selecting  William  H.  Conrad  of 
Ohio  township  president.  The  ballot  was  spread  with  the 
following  results:  Jerry  S.  Hall,  three  votes;  John  W.  C. 
Springston,  five  votes;  John  M.  Johnson,  one  vote. 
Springston  having  received  the  majority  of  votes  was  de- 
clared elected.  Those  present  were :  John  N.  Bahr,  Jen- 
nings township ;  Chester  Atz,  Whisky  Run  township ;  John 
W.  Breeden,  Liberty  township ;  Joel  Vandever,  Sterling 
township;  John  Williams,  Patoka  township;  L.  B.  Walls, 
Johnson  township ;  A.  B.  Kellums,  Union  township ;  Will- 
iam H.  Conrad,  Ohio  township;  R.  H.  Fullenwider,  Boone 
township. 


362  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

(Attest  A.  M.  Sipes,  A.  C.  C.) 

The  following  article  was  written  by  Springston  and  is 
so  interesting  that  the  author  has  submitted  the  text  here : 
"For  the  convenience  of  the  teachers  I  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  holding  examinations  at  various  places  in  the 
county.  I  have  held  at  least  one  examination  in  each 
township.  I  always  held  them  in  the  schoolhouses ;  I  gen- 
erally gave  notice  of  the  examinations  through  the  county 
papers  at  least  two  weeks  before  the  examination  was  held. 
It  has  been  my  custom  to  hold  the  two  examinations  in  the 
months  of  September  and  October  each.  In  all  cases  I 
write  the  questions  on  the  board  and  have  the  applicants 
so  arranged  that  they  can  see  the  questions  well.  In  this 
way  I  secure  uniformity ;  all  are  examined  on  the  same 
subject  at  the  same  time.  I  generally  write  one  question 
and  give  a  reasonable  length  of  time  for  an  answer.  I 
then  erase  this  one  and  write  one.  This  secures  prompt- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  individual  which  is  very  necessary 
in  order  to  succeed.  It  also  prevents  their  minds  from 
becoming  confused  by  seeing  so  many  different  questions 
at  the  same  time.  I  always  enforce  the  rules  given  by  the 
State  Board.  The  questions  used  by  the  State  Board  are 
always  used  by  me.  I  hold  my  examination  on  the  last 
Saturday  in  each  month.  During  the  first  year  I  graded 
according  to  the  rules  adopted  by  the  County  Superin- 
tendents' Convention  at  Indianapolis  in  July,  1873.  But 
I  think  this  is  too  slow.  I  grant  no  license  on  a  general 
average  less  than  seventy  per  cent.  I  give  credit  to  the 
amount  of  five  per  cent.,  which  is  the  same  as  starting 
with  sixty-five  per  cent. 

Kind  of  licenses:     A.     Six  months;  one  must  make  a 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  363 

general  average  of  seventy  per  cent,  and  not  below  fifty 
per  cent.  B.  Twelve  months;  one  must  make  a  general 
average  of  eighty  per  cent,  and  not  fall  below  sixty  per  cent. 
to  secure  this  license.  C.  Eighteen  months;  to  secure  this 
license  must  make  a  general  average  of  ninety  per  cent., 
not  falling  below  seventy  per  cent,  in  any  one  subject. 
D.  Two  year;  one  must  make  a  general  average  of  ninety- 
five  per  cent.,  not  falling  below  eighty  per  cent,  in  any 
subject  to  secure  this  license. 

There  are  several  teachers  who  were  willing  to  keep  a 
school  on  six  months'  license  and  never  advance  as  long 
as  the  trustees  will  hire  them,  and  strange  to  say,  we  have 
several  trustees  who  will  hire  them  and  let  the  better 
teachers  go  without  a  school.  When  the  self-important  six 
months  man  now  gets  his  blank  he  opens  his  eyes  and  if 
there  is  anything  in  him  he  will  show  it  by  trying  to  im- 
prove. 

The  number  of  questions  answered  by  the  candidate  is 
not  the  only  means  by  which  one  can  determine  his  grade. 
A  parrot  can  be  taught  to  answer  questions,  but  it  does  not 
mean  that  it  can  understand  their  meanings.  Some  teach- 
ers can  never  answer  questions  with  any  well  formed 
idea  of  the  principles  involved.  There  is  nothing  that  will 
represent  more  accurately  the  character  of  an  individual 
than  the  general  appearance  of  his  manuscript.  Care- 
lessness will  be  represented  by  the  scratches  and  blotches 
on  each  manuscript. 

There  are  seventy  schools  in  this  county.  I  visited  all 
but  four.  I  have  ample  time  for  visiting  the  schools.  The 
average  length  of  the  schools  in  this  county  is  seventy-five 


364         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

days,  and  there  being  seventy  schools,  I  can  stay  a  day  at 
each  school. 

I  have  no  regular  appointments  but  come  on  the  teacher 
unawares.  I  think  it  is  a  bad  policy  to  let  the  teacher 
know  when  you  are  coming.  However,  if  I  were  to  consult 
my  personal  feelings  I  would  send  some  teachers  a  notice 
ten  days  beforehand  and  jog  their  memory  every  day  till 
the  visit  came.  But  to  get  anything  like  a  correct  opinion 
of  a  man's  work  the  county  superintendent  ought  to  let 
the  teacher  remain  ignorant  of  his  visit.  He  should  find 
the  schools  as  they  are  to  get  a  good  idea  of  what  is 
going  on. 

I  hardly  ever  assume  the  management  of  a  school  for 
three  reasons:  (1)  I  am  not  acquainted  with  the  teach- 
er's methods  of  managing  the  school;  (2)  I  being  a 
stranger  to  the  pupils  would  embarrass  them,  and  I  would 
not  get  the  best  results  from  the  pupils.  I  generally  spend 
a  day  at  a  school  as  this  gives  me  a  chance  to  see  the  entire 
system  and  detect  the  wants  of  the  school.  I  never  criti- 
cize a  school  publicly  as  it  lowers  the  standard  of  the 
teacher  in  the  presence  of  the  pupils.  I  think  the  super- 
intendent should  have  a  blank  book  on  which  he  can  make 
a  note  of  all  things  which  happen  and  then  suggest  them 
privately  to  the  teacher.  He  then  has  the  general  con- 
dition of  the  school  to  present  to  the  county  board.  I 
spend  about  seventy  days  visiting  schools.  I  use  about 
fifteen  days  a  year  holding  examinations.  I  spend  about 
fifteen  days  a  year  in  holding  institutes.  I  spend  about 
fifty  days  in  my  office  work.  I  labored  in  the  duties  of 
my  office  about  170  days  a  year  which  makes  my  office  cost 
the  county  about  $680  I  do  not  receive  anything  from  any 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  365 

other  source.  The  office  last  year  cost  $731.  This  is  con- 
sidered by  some  as  extravagant  but  they  never  take  into 
consideration  the  amount  of  good  that  is  gained.  Other 
offices  might  cost  twice  as  much  but  they  do  not  do  half 
the  good.  The  school  examiner  cost  the  people  and  the 
count}7'  about  one-third  as  much  as  the  county  superin- 
tendent, and  many  of  them  did  a  very  poor  grade  of  work. 

I  have  saved  the  people  enough  money  in  one  transac- 
tion to  balance  my  salary  for  a  year.  I  also  prevented  the 
thief  from  carrying  off  three  annual  salaries  for  the  super- 
intendent. These  things  had  been  under  the  notice  of  the 
examiners  for  several  years,  but  they  did  nothing.  I 
brought  the  action  myself,  and  though  the  case  did  not  go 
through  court,  rid  the  county  of  the  thief.  So,  for  the 
next  two  years  the  county  will  not  suffer  on  account  of  the 
superintendent. 

One  can  hardly  excite  any  interest  among  the  trustees. 
At  our  last  meeting  they  selected  a  uniform  system  of 
books  for  the  county.  The  townships  have  not  a  uniform 
set  of  charts,  but  many  are  very  good,  such  as  they  are. 

The  condition  of  the  schools  is  better.  The  old  houses 
have  been  repaired  and  refurnished.  The  town  of  Leaven- 
worth has  built  one  of  the  best  houses  in  southern  Indiana. 
It  is  a  two-story  brick  and  has  four  good  rooms.  Out 
buildings  are  very  good,  too.  In  the  village  of  Hartford  a 
good  substantial  two-story  frame  building  has  been  erected. 
Heretofore  they  had  a  log  cabin.  In  fact,  all  over  the 
county  the  school  property  has  been  improved.  Yet  many 
things  still  remain  undone.  The  seats  are  not  fit  for  the 
pupils,  but  our  trustees  will  see  the  right  way  soon  and 
get  better  ones. 


366         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  county  and  township  institute,  for  the  most  part, 
is  a  success.  In  some  townships  the  trustees  and  the 
teachers  take  no  interest.  The  lady  teachers  are  not  able 
to  attend  well  in  the  large  townships. 

This  year  we  had  the  best  institute  ever  held  in  the 
county.  There  were  102  teachers  enrolled.  We  had  no 
instructors  from  abroad  but  labored  among  ourselves. 
Instruction  was  given  in  the  common  branches. 

Our  Normal  was  attended  by  about  fifty  students  this 
year.  There  was  a  musical  department  under  Professor 
J.  S.  Pfrimmer  of  Corydon.  There  are  two  students 
attending  Indiana  University. 

Marengo  Academy  is  doing  some  fine  work  under  Pro- 
fessor John  M.  Johnson,  at  which  many  of  our  teachers 
have  improved  their  standing.  All  things  look  well  for  the 
schools  of  the  county. 

County  Superintendent.- 

Mr.  Springston  brought  order  out  of  chaos.  He  began 
to  organize  the  schools,  use  courses  of  study,  and  grade  the 
teachers.  After  the  marriage  to  Dora  Conrad  he  moved 
his  office  to  Fredonia. 

After  the  election  of  President  Garfield  in  1880  and 
Doctor  Emanuel  Hahn  of  Leavenworth,  Secretary  of  State, 
John  Springston  resigned  the  office,  to  take  effect  Novem- 
ber 20,  1880.  The  county  auditor  called  the  trustees 
together  on  November  20  to  fill  the  vacancy.  These  trus- 
tees were  present:  Jennings  township,  M.  E.  Stewart; 
Boone  township,  W.  H.  Fullen wider;  Liberty  township, 
John   H.   Stewart;  Johnson  township,   G.   W.   L.   Brown; 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  367 

Ohio  township,  George  Jenkins;  Patoka  township,  D.  C. 
Mock;  Sterling  township,  William  Bennett;  Whisky  Run 
township,  J.  F.  Sanders ;  Union  township,   absent. 

The  board  organized  by  electing  J.  F.  Sanders,  presi- 
dent, and  A.  M.  Sipes  became  secretary.  The  first  vote 
taken  showed  this  result:  Jerry  Hall,  four  votes;  Clark 
Brown,  three  votes;  Sam  Mann,  one  vote. 

No  one  receiving  a  majority  of  the  votes  they  proposed 
to  drop  Mann's  name  and  take  another  ballot,  the  result 
of  which  was  the  same  as  the  first  ballot. 

Boone,  Jennings,  Ohio  and  Liberty  townships  were  rep- 
resented by  Republicans  and  the  other  four  by  Democrats. 
The  auditor  was  a  Democrat.  Should  the  vote  ever  come 
to  a  tie  then  Mr.  Sipes  would  vote  for  Hall  and  thus  elect 
him.  To  prevent  that  the  Republicans  scattered  their 
votes  as  shown  above.  But  Chairman  Sanders  now  put  a 
resolution  to  the  trustees  of  this  nature :  Resolved,  that 
Jerry  S.  Hall  be  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by 
the  resignation  of  John  Springston.  Now  the  trustees  had 
to  vote  for  or  against  the  resolution,  hence  Bennett,  San- 
ders, Brown  and  Mock  voted  for  the  resolution  and  M.  E. 
Stewart,  John  Stewart,  Fullenwider  and  Jenkins  voted 
against  it.  This  made  the  vote  a  tie,  so  Alexander  M. 
Sipes  voted  for  the  resolution  and  Hall  was  appointed. 

At  the  close  of  John  Springston 's  first  term  of  office  in 
June,  1875,  the  county  commissioners  were  empowered  by 
some  law  to  appoint  the  county  superintendent.  So  at 
their  June  meeting  the  board  appointed  John  Batman  to 
serve  for  a  term  of  two  years,  but  later  the  right  was  taken 
from  the  commissioners  or  they  never  really  had  the  right. 
Mr.  Batman  held  the  office  for  several  months  and  Mr. 


368  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Springston  was  put  in  charge  of  the  office  again.  He  held 
it  until  his  resignation  in  November,  1880. 

Mr.  Hall,  the  new  county  superintendent,  was  born 
in  Harrison  County.  He  taught  school  at  "Wyandotte  in 
Jennings  township.  Here  he  married  one  of  the  Rothrock 
girls.  During  his  term  of  office  all  the  old  log  schools  were 
abandoned.  The  Young  People 's  Reading  Circle  books  and 
Teachers'  Reading  Circle  books  were  adopted,  and  many 
other  good  things  done  to  build  up  the  schools.  At  the 
close  of  his  term  of  office  Mr.  Hall  moved  to  Indianapolis 
and  became  manager  of  the  English  Hotel.  He  died  in 
Illinois  in  the  spring  of  1926. 

During  Mr.  Hall's  term  of  office  the  county  normals 
were  very  beneficial  to  our  teachers.  The  old  Academy  at 
Marengo  was  established  at  that  town  in  1869  by  Professor 
John  M.  Johnson.  Others  were  held  at  Leavenworth, 
Alton  and  English.  These  normals  became  very  popular 
and  did  a  great  service  to  the  county.  The  following  pro- 
gram was  found  in  the  attic  of  an  old  house  in  Leaven- 
worth and  may  be  of  interest: 

Spring  Term  of  Ten  Weeks 

ENGLISH  NORMAL 

English,  Indiana. 

Beginning 

Monday,  March  28,  1887, 

and  closing 

Friday,  June  3rd,  1887. 

Public  Examination  at  English, 

Tuesday,  May  31,  1887. 

James  Bobbitt,  Co.  Supt. 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  369 

THE      NORMAL 

For  those  who  wish  to  attend  school,  we  have  so  ar- 
ranged the  work  of  the  Normal  as  to  offer  facilities  not 
extended  to  students  in  this  part  of  the  state.  Enough 
teachers  will  be  employed  so  that  one  will  not  have  more 
than  three  or  four  classes.  We  have  made  arrangements 
with  the  school  board  at  English  so  that  we  can  use  their 
maps  and  charts. 

English  is  situated  on  the  L.  E.  &  St.  Louis  Air  Line 
and  near  the  center  of  the  county.  It  is  a  great  health 
resort  of  sulphur  springs  and  the  Christian  character  of 
the  people  makes  English  one  of  the  most  desirable  places 
in  southern  Indiana  for  a  Normal. 

Outline  of  Work: 

There  will  be  beginning  and  advance  classes  in  Arith- 
metic. Particular  attention  will  be  paid  to  the  analysis  of 
problems.  Numerous  practical  problems  will  be  illustrated. 
Algebra: 

There  will  be  beginning  and  advance  classes  in  Algebra. 
One  class  will  begin  in  quadratics,  using  "Ray's  Higher" 
and  will  complete  the  text. 
Geography : 

In  these  classes  attention  will  be  given  to  Astronomical 
and  Physical  Geography.    Map  drawing  will  be  taught  by 
the  most  approved  methods. 
Grammar: 

The  usual  classes  in  the  subject  will  be  taught  and 
stress  will  be  laid  on  diagramming. 


370         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Physiology : 

Each  subject  will  be  illustrated  by  the  use  of  charts. 

History  : 

In  connection  with  these  classes  map  drawing  will  be 
taught  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Bye,  whose  success  as  a  teacher  of 
history  is  not  questioned. 

Higher  Branches: 

Classes  will  be  given  in  Rhetoric,  Geometry  and  Latin. 
Teachers'  Training   Class: 

Work  will  be  given  in  the  two  Teachers  Reading  Circle 
books. 
Expenses: 

We  have  made  arrangements  with  the  citizens  so  that 
board  may  be  had  in  private  homes  at  $2.25  per  week. 

The  tuition  for  the  term  is  $6.00. 

F.   J.    Priest, 
E.  J.  Bye, 
James   Bobbitt, 
Co.  Supt. 

For  further  particulars  address  F.  Priest,  English,  In- 
diana, or  E.  J.  Bye,  Milltown,  Indiana. 

Mr.  Hall  was  re-elected  county  superintendent  in  1881 
for  a  full  term  of  two  years.  These  trustees  were  present : 
R.  H.  Fullenwider,  Boone;  M.  E.  Stewart,  Jennings; 
George  W.  L.  Brown,  Johnson;  John  Stewart,  Liberty; 
George  Jenkins,  Ohio ;  Mock,  Patoka,  absent ;  William  Ben- 
nett, Sterling;  Wm.  McMahel,  Union;  J.  W.  Eddleman, 
Whisky  Run. 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  371 

At  the  general  election  in  1882  these  trustees  were 
elected :  Boone,  W.  H.  Fullenwider,  Rep. ;  Jennings,  John 
T.  Roberson,  Dem. ;  Johnson,  Thomas  Gilmore,  Dem. ;  Lib- 
erty, none;  Ohio,  George  Jenkins,  Rep.;  Patoka,  Archibald 
Allen,  Dem.;  Sterling,  W.  C.  Bird,  Dem.;  Union,  John 
Cole;  Whisk}'  Run,  Christian  Atz,  Dem. 

At  the  regular  meeting  June  4,  1883,  held  in  the  audi- 
tor's office  at  Leavenworth  the  trustees  named  above  were 
present.  The  one  from  Liberty  was  absent.  Mr.  Robert- 
son was  made  chairman  and  Mr.  Atz  presented  the  name 
of  E.  J.  Bye  and  Mr.  Jenkins  presented  the  name  of 
Thomas  Duffin.  Ballots  were  taken  which  gave  Bye  six 
votes  and  Duffin  two.  Therefore  Bye  was  elected  to  serve 
till  June,  1885.  E.  J.  Bye,  the  new  county  superintendent, 
was  born  in  the  parish  of  Clerkshire,  London,  England,  on 
December  31,  1848.  His  parents  embarked  for  the  United 
States  when  he  was  three  years  of  age.  He  married  Leora 
Alice  Schoonover  on  February  22,  1873.  He  joined  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Mount  Lebanon  when,  he 
was  a  young  man,  became  an  ardent  reader,  a  faithful 
Christian,  and  a  good  citizen.  He  became  a  teacher  at  the 
age  of  19  and  taught  school  till  he  was  56  years  of  age, 
when  he  was  county  superintendent  for  two  years.  He 
was  the  last  charter  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows  Lodge  of 
Milltown.  He  died  October  10,  1924,  at  his  home  in  Mill- 
town.  The  author  was  personally  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Bye,  who  he  knew  was  a  warm-hearted,  true-hearted, 
high-minded  citizen. 

When  Mr.  Bye's  term  of  office  closed  in  1885  he  became 
a  popular  teacher  in  the  county  normal. 

The  general  election  in  1884  returned  these  trustees: 


372         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Boone,  Lyman  Brooks;  Jennings,  J.  T.  Roberson;  John- 
son, James  Speedy;  Liberty,  John  Hammond;  Ohio,  Jacob 
Wiseman;  Patoka,  John  Sinclair;  Sterling,  Wm.  Bennett; 
Union,  John  W.  Senn;  Whisky  Run,  Christian  Atz. 

When  the  board  met  at  the  auditor's  office  in  June, 
1885,  Christian  Atz  was  made  chairman.  Nominations 
being  in  order,  Wm.  Bennett  of  Sterling  nominated  John 
H.  Weathers,  and  James  Speedy  nominated  James  Bobbitt. 
The  ballot  being  spread,  the  vote  was  taken  with  these 
results:  James  Bobbitt,  5  votes;  John  Weathers,  3  votes; 
John  Johnson,  1  vote. 

James  Bobbitt  having  received  a  majority  of  all  votes 
cast,  was  declared  elected  for  a  term  of  two  years. 

Under  Mr.  Bobbitt 's  term  of  office  much  improvement 
was  made.  The  schools  at  Alton  and  English  were  graded. 
A  little  high  school  work  was  done.  Alton  had  two 
teachers,  English  three  teachers  and  Leavenworth  had  four 
teachers.  The  new  brick  schoolhouse  in  Leavenworth  was 
considered  then  to  be  one  of  the  best  in  southern  Indiana. 

Many  schools  were  furnished  with  new  seats  in  which 
two  persons  could  sit.  The  long  settee  or  wooden  bench 
was  removed.  Uniform  books  for  the  county  were  much 
desired.  McGuffey's  spellers  and  readers  were  then  used. 
Yet  the  teachers  were  very  poorly  traind.  Once  in  a  while 
one  more  daring  than  the  rest  went  to  the  State  Normal 
or  to  Bloomington.  Among  these  one  may  mention  S.  C. 
Miller  of  English,  Sherman  Tower  of  Leavenworth  and 
Edward  A.  Tower  of  Leavenworth.  Both  the  Towers  were 
in  the  State  Normal  when  the  main  building  was  destroyed 
by  fire  in  the  eighties.     Frances  Temple  was  a  student 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  373 

along  with  Kate  Fullenwider  in  1886-87-88.  These 
students  were  the  leaders  of  the  county  in  those  early  days. 

The  election  of  1886  returned  these  trustees  to  power : 
Boone,  Lyman  Brooks;  Jennings,  Kelly  Jenkins;  Johnson, 
Robert  Gilmore;  Liberty,  J.  II.  Hammon;  Ohio,  J.  T.  Wise- 
man; Patoka,  J.  S.  Sinclair;  Sterling,  Wm.  Bennett; 
Union,  J.  W.  Senn;  Whisky  Run,  L.  C.  Pfeifi'er. 

The  trustees  tried  to  get  books  for  the  county  and  a 
uniform  set  of  maps  and  globes.  The  old  wooden  seats  in 
many  districts  were  replaced  with  new  ones  which  were 
large  enough  to  hold  two  persons.  The  trustees  were 
willing  to  help  schools  all  they  could  but  the  funds  were 
low,  teachers  were  poorly  trained  and  the  houses  were 
crowded,  many  of  which  had  from  40  to  70  pupils  enrolled. 
These  pupils  were  all  sizes  and  ages.  Even  married  men 
of  twenty-five  years  of  age  entered  school. 

Under  such  conditions  the  teacher  who  could  command 
order  was  the  one  wanted.  Corporal  punishment  was  the 
chief  aim  of  the  teacher.  So  whipping  was  an  every  day 
occurrence. 

The  above  board  of  trustees  met  at  the  court  house  in 
the  town  of  Leavenworth  on  June  6,  1887,  and  elected 
AV.  A.  Pierson  for  a  term  of  two  years. 

Kelly  Jenkins  was  elected  chairman.  Nominations  be- 
ing in  order,  Mr.  Gilmore  nominated  W.  A.  Pierson,  L.  C. 
Pfeiffer  nominated  E.  J.  Bye,  John  W.  Senn  nominated 
Fielding  Priest.  By  motion  of  J.  W.  Sinclair  the  nom- 
inations were  closed  and  the  ballot  spread  with  this  result : 
W.  A.  Pierson,  4  votes;  E.  J.  Bye,  1  vote;  Fielding  Priest, 
2  votes;  J.  M.  Johnson,  1  vote. 

Robert  Gilmore  made  a  motion  that  the  two  lowest  ones 


374         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

be  dropped;  with  a  second  it  passed.  The  ballot  was 
spread,  with  the  same  results.  Resolution  was  made  to 
drop  the  lowest  two,  was  put  and  lost.  Ballot  was  spread 
the  third  time,  with  the  same  results  as  at  first.  J.  W.  Senn 
made  a  motion  to  adjourn  but  the  motion  was  lost.  J.  S. 
Sinclair  moved  that  Wm.  A.  Pierson  be  appointed  county 
superintendent.  Mr.  Pierson  was  one  of  Orange  County's 
noble  sons  who  worked  hard  for  his  education.  He  had 
lived  for  several  years  at  Marengo  where  he  taught  school. 
Mr.  Pierson  was  a  tireless  worker,  a  good  school  man,  and 
a  Christian  gentleman.  When  his  term  of  office  expired 
he  located  in  Indianapolis  where  he  still  lives. 

The  next  man  to  be  elected  county  superintendent  was 
John  W.  Goldman.  The  complexion  of  the  trustees 
changed  some.  Quigley  Odle  was  elected  trustee  of  Jen- 
nings township  on  the  Republican  ticket  over  Kelley  Jen- 
kins in  1888.  So  when  the  trustees  met  on  June  3,  1889, 
by  call  of  the  auditor  these  men  were  presented :  T.  Q. 
Odle,  Jennings;  Boone,  Lyman  Brooks;  Liberty,  W.  H. 
Taylor;  Union,  James  Smallwood;  Ohio,  Isaac  Johnson. 

The  other  trustees  were  absent.  Johnson  nominated 
Goldman,  who  was  elected. 

Mr.  Goldman  during  his  term  of  office  used  his  influence 
to  encourage  young  men  and  women  to  attend  school.  In 
1891  Edward  Tower  of  Leavenworth  graduated  from  the 
Indiana  State  Normal.  The  private  normals  were  doing 
much  good  work  for  the  teachers.  The  county  super- 
intendent caused  the  institutes  to  be  held  at  Marengo  dur- 
ing his  term.  These  old-time  institutes  were  a  merry  time 
for  the  teachers.     Many  of  the  best  institute  instructors  in 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  375 

the  state   were   engaged.     Teachers  stayed  all  week  and 
attended  all  the  night  sessions,  too. 

The  Democrats  at  the  election  in  1890  elected  a  ma- 
jority of  the  trustees.  The  returns  showed  these  men  were 
elected :  Boone,  W.  T.  Watson ;  Jennings,  Jim  Shaw ; 
Johnson,  E.  P.  Brown;  Liberty,  W.  H.  Taylor;  Ohio,  Wm. 
Merrillees ;  Patoka,  J.  R.  Crews;  Sterling,  Wm.  Richards; 
Union,  James  Smallwood;  Whisky  Run,  W..  S.  Spencer. 

The  Democratic  trustees  held  a  caucus  in  Grantsburg 
many  weeks  before  the  election.  There  were  several  can- 
didates, among  whom  one  can  name  John  Zimmerman, 
Pierce  Walts,  Tom  Kelly  and  James  R.  Duffin.  The  ballots 
were  cast  all  day,  with  no  definite  results  till  late  in  the  day, 
when  John  F.  Zimmerman  was  nominated.  The  trustees 
were  called  together  on  June  1,  1891.  J.  R.  Crews  moved 
that  William  Merrilees  be  made  chairman.  The  motion 
carried.  Moved  to  vote  by  ballot  carried.  Then  motion 
was  made  that  Zimmerman  be  elected  by  unanimous  vote 
and  carried.  So  the  ballot  was  spread  and  vote  taken, 
resulting  in  Zimmerman's  election  by  unanimous  vote. 
Zimmerman  lived  near  Eckerty  in  Patoka  township.  He 
was  a  Democrat.  The  county  institute  was  a  success  dur- 
ing his  term  of  office.  The  schools  were  graded  to  some 
extent.  Most  district  schools  had  these  years  or  grades : 
First,  second,  third,  fourth  and  fifth  grades.  McGuffey's 
Readers  and  Spellers,  Thalheimer's  History  and  Ray's  old 
third  part  Arithmetic  were  used  in  the  county. 

The  election  of  1893  pushed  Zimmerman  aside  and  put 
J.  R.  Duffin  of  West  Fork  into  the  office.  Duffin  was  a 
young  man  who  had  been  educated  at  Danville,  Indiana. 


376         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

He  was  ambitious,  eager  to  succeed.  Much  good  work  was 
done  for  the  schools  under  his  term  of  office. 

The  election  of  1894  was  a  political  landslide  for  the 
Republicans.  Boone  township  elected  13.  Pierson;  Jen- 
nings, Martin  Scott;  Johnson,  I.  B.  Bobbitt;  Liberyt,  L. 
Terry ;  Ohio,  George  Riddle ;  Patoka,  John  Deich ;  Sterling, 
W.  T.  Beasley;  Union,  Joseph  B.  Blevins,  and  Whisky 
Run,  Christian  Atz.  Atz,  Scott  and  Beasley  were  Dem- 
ocrats. The  other  six  were  Republicans.  In  June,  1897, 
they  elected  Charles  A.  Robertson  for  a  term  of  two  years. 
Later,  in  1899,  he  was  re-elected  for  a  term  of  four  years. 
A  new  law  extended  his  term  from  two  to  four  years. 
The  trustees  were  also  elected  to  have  four-year  terms  in 
1900. 

Mr.  Robertson,  who  was  a  very  courteous  gentleman, 
made  a  very  fine  county  superintendent.  Morally  he  was 
a  good  citizen  and  set  a  good  example  before  the  pupils  of 
the  county.  He  introduced  report  cards  which  the  pupils 
liked  very  much.  Despite  all  the  good  he  had  done  in 
favoring  higher  training  and  supervising  the  school,  he 
did  not  get  elected  in  1903.  To  his  honor  one  may  say 
that  he  made  a  clean  fight  and  ought  to  have  been  re- 
elected. But  one  of  his  Republican  trustees  turned  Dem- 
ocrat, which  ended  in  the  defeat  of  the  Republicans. 

The  election  of  a  county  superintendent  in  1903  was 
one  of  the  most  exciting  elections  ever  held  in  Crawford 
County.  There  were  five  Republicans  and  four  Democrats 
elected  as  trustees  in  1900.  About  1902  Luther  L.  Jones, 
who  lived  at  Schooner  Point,  told  people  that  he  intended 
to  vote  for  a  Democrat  for  county  superintendent.  Noth- 
ing  the   Republicans   could   do   helped   the   matter.      The 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  377 

Democratic  caucus  selected  Luther  Flanigan  of  Milltown, 
but  Alplieus  J.  Beals  voted  for  his  brother,  S.  A.  Beals, 
who  also  received  the  four  Republican  votes,  thereby  elect- 
ing Beals. 

Mr.  Beals,  who  was  a  Democrat,  grew  up  in  Jennings 
township.  He  was  a  very  industrious  worker.  Had  been 
a  teacher  in  the  grades  of  the  Leavenworth  schools  for 
several  years.  He  took  the  school  work  in  hand  with  a 
strong  grip.  He  did  away  with  the  old  unsanitary  slates 
and  pupils  were  required  to  get  pencils  and  paper  tablets. 
Some  one  from  another  county  criticized  him  on  account  of 
the  slates,  but  Beals  was  right,  and  the  others  wrong. 

Mr.  Beals  held  his  office  until  1917  when  he  was  super- 
seded by   Harrison   Toney. 

During  his  long  term  of  office  Leavenworth,  English, 
Marengo  and  Milltown  schools  were  granted  commissions. 
New  buildings  were  erected  at  Marengo  and  English. 

By  skillful  maneuvers  Mr.  Beals  had  succeeded  in  get- 
ting enough  trustees  elected  to  keep  him  in  office,  but  in 
1914  he  lost  the  trustees.  These  were  elected :  Boone,  Ed. 
Parr,  Rep. ;  Jennings,  Fred  Bischoff,  Dem. ;  Johnson,  M.  G. 
Real,  Rep. ;  Liberty,  John  Brown,  Dem. ;  Ohio,  Garrison 
Bird,  Rep. ;  Patoka,  George  Smith,  Rep. ;  Sterling,  Noble 
Denbo,  Rep. ;  Union,  Kenna  Senn,  Rep. ;  Whisky  Run,  John 
Ferguson,  Dem. 

The  Republicans  had  six  trustees  and  the  Democrats 
had  three.  When  the  election  came  in  1917  H.  W.  Toney 
wras  elected.  Mr.  Toney  worked  hard  for  the  schools.  He 
attended  the  institutes  and  encouraged  the  teachers.  He 
was  one  of  the  cleanest  young  men  ever  elected  to  the 
office.    Yet  for  some  reason  or  other  he  was  not  re-elected. 


378         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

At  the  election  in  1918  a  majority  of  Republicans  were 
elected  trustees. 

On  June  6,  1921,  when  the  board  met,  Mr.  Parr  of 
Alton  nominated  H.  H.  Pleasant.  Reuben  Cox  of  Eckerty 
seconded  the  nomination.  The  vote  showed  five  for  Pleas- 
ant and  four  for  Toney.  The  trustees  were  :  Boone,  Parr, 
Rep,  for  Pleasant ;  Jennings,  Mcintosh,  Dem.,  for  Toney ; 
Liberty,  T.  II.  Miller,  Rep.,  for  Pleasant;  Ohio,  J.  R.  Rain- 
forth,  Rep.,  for  Pleasant ;  Patoka,  Joe  Riley,  Dem.,  for 
Toney;  Sterling,  Charles  P.  Miller,  Dem.,  for  Toney; 
Union,  Charles  Ford,  Rep.,  for  Pleasant ;  Whisky  Run, 
Willard  Vance,  Dem.,   for  Toney. 

H.  H.  Pleasant,  who  was  elected  county  superintendent, 
was  born  in  Jennings  township.  He  attended  the  district 
school  at  Magnolia.  Later  he  spent  some  time  in  the 
Leavenworth  High  School,  walking  five  miles  there  and 
back  each  day  except  when  he  had  a  chance  to  ride.  En- 
couraged by  Professor  Dodson  he  entered  the  State  Nor- 
mal in  1903,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1910.  He  also 
graduated  from  Indiana  University  with  the  B.  A.  degree 
and  M.  A.  degree  in  1918  and  1920.  He  had  been  super- 
intendent of  several  high  schools  and  had  a  fair  knowledge 
of  the  work  in  which  he  is  now  engaged.' 

Before  Mr.  Pleasant  entered  upon  his  duties  August 
16,  1921,  a  new  law  was  enacted  which  raised  the  age  of 
school  attendance  to  16  years.  The  state  board  adopted 
the  plan  which  entirely  changed  the  plan  which  Super- 
intendent Pleasant  had  in  force. 

The  law  required  all  the  schools  to  be  scored.  Those 
falling  below  fifty  on  a  score  card  sent  out  by  the  state 
were  to  receive  no  state  aid.     Mr.  Pleasant  visited  State 


EDUCATION,  CONTINUED  379 

Superintendent  Burris  and  explained  the  condition  of  the 
roads,  schools  and  teachers.  Bnrris  suggested  that  he 
would  bring  Governor  McCray  along  and  spend  a  day  vis- 
iting our  county  schools.  The  party  landed  in  English 
October  18,  1921.  When  the  Governor  saw  the  condition 
of  the  houses  he  decided  that  the  score  would  be  put  off 
until  1923.  Then  the  big  problem  was  to  get  the  patrons 
to  hold  working  days  and  clean  up  the  old  houses.  The 
good  people  took  up  the  matter  with  a  will.  Before  the 
time  was  out  all  the  schools  were  able  to  score  above  fifty 
per  cent. 

The  term  of  school  was  lengthened  to  eight  months.  A 
county  agent  was  employed  for  the  county. 

The  schools  were  built  up  wonderfully  during  his  term 
of  office  from  a  material  point  of  view,  but  Mr.  Pleasant 
did  not  have  time  to  supervise  the  work  as  well  as  was 
needed. 

Mr.  Pleasant  did  not  believe  that  a  school  superin- 
tendent should  mix  up  in  politics.  So  the  election  of  1922 
for  trustees  put  these  men  in  office :  Boone,  Sid  Purcell, 
Dem. ;  Jennings,  Jesse  Dean,  Dem. ;  Liberty,  Ott  Hanger, 
Dem. ;  Ohio,  John  Crecelius,  Rep. ;  Patoka,  Clad  Murray, 
Dem. ;  Union,  Henry  Knight,  Dem. ;  Whiskey  Run,  Willard 
Vance,  Dem. ;  Johnson,   Chester  Lamon,  Rep. 

Despite  the  hard  work  done  in  scoring  the  schools,  there 
was  no  chance  for  Superintendent  Pleasant  to  be  re-elected. 
In  the  summer  of  1924  Superintendent  Pleasant  was 
elected  to  teach  in  Central  Normal  College.  So  on  Sep- 
tember 15,  1924,  he  resigned.  The  trustees  met  and  the 
Democrats  nominated  S.  C.  Adams  of  Leavenworth  and 
elected  him.    He  was  a  graduate  of  Indiana  University  and 


380         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

had  his  master's  degree  from  Columbia.  He  was  a  gentle- 
man of  spotless  integrity,  one  who  would  not  mix  up  his 
office  with  politics. 

Superintendent  Pleasant  was  very  impartial  while  he 
was  in  office.  He  did  not  let  politics  make  any  difference 
with  him.  Mr.  Adams  was  of  like  mind.  He  spent  one 
year  as  county  superintendent  and  withdrew  from  the  field 
and  would  not  stand  for  re-election.  The  county  lost  the 
services  of  a  fine  Christian  gentleman. 

The  year  of  1924-1925  saw  the  state  aid  law  amended 
so  that  supplies  and  supplementary  readers  might  be 
bought  with  state  aid.  So  a  goodly  amount  was  bought  by 
our  trustees.  The  election  of  county  superintendent  in 
1925  resulted  in  the  selection  of  one  of  Patoka's  noble  sons, 
John  D.  Murray.  He  was  about  26  years  of  age,  a  grad- 
uate of  Oakland  City  College,  and  one  who  was  interested 
in  the  improvement  of  his  teachers. 

The  teachers  began  extension  work  under  his  term  in 
1925.  The  state  aid  ruling  was  changed  so  that  equip- 
ment may  be  had  for  the  schools.  Leavenworth  received 
about  $2,000  worth  of  supplies  in  1925.  Others  got  their 
share,  too. 

One  may  predict  for  Mr.  Murray  a  bright  future. 

Finding  the  schools  is  a  very  difficult  undertaking  in 
Crawford  County.  Mr.  Adams  left  home  one  day  to  visit 
schools.  When  he  found  himself  he  was  over  in  Perry 
County.  He  found  his  way  home  in  safety,  but  late  at 
night. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 


ENGLISH  AFTER  THE  WAR 


At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  English  was  a  cluster  of 
log  cabins.  There  was  also  a  log  schoolhouse.  Two  of  the 
oldest  business  men  were  Bry  Gregory,  who  kept  a  grocery 
in  English  for  many  years,  and  W.  W.  Cummins. 

At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  Woodson  Cummins,  the 
sheriff  of  the  county,  lived  in  English.  The  people  out  in 
that  part  of  the  county  had  many  disloyal  citizens  who 
had  formed  "Castles  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle." 
Captain  Aydelotte  made  a  raid  out  around  Hartford  or 
English  and  caught  a  large  number  of  the  Knights  who 
were  later  discharged. 

The  Air  Line  railroad  went  through  English  about 
1883.  Then  the  town  began  to  grow.  There  was  an  outlet 
for  the  timber  and  farm  products  then. 

One  of  the  oldest  business  men  in  English  is  Senator 
Samuel  Benz,  who  is  the  son  of  Senator  John  Benz  of 
Leavenworth,  who  came  to  this  country  from  Germany 
many  years  before  the  Civil  War.  He  bought  out  his 
brother,  who  died,  and  began  business  for  himself.  In 
regard  to  Senator  Sam  Benz  one  may  say  that  he  is  a 
gentleman  in  whom  the  people  have  the  greatest  con- 
fidence. If  he  sells  a  man  a  suit  of  clothes  and  says  "it  is 
all  wool"  that  suit  is  all  wool." 

381 


382  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Besides  Sam  Benz,  Burgess  and  McCoy  had  a  store  in 
English.  There  were  no  sidewalks  in  the  town  until  after 
1887.  Gradually  walks  were  built.  Wright  and  Wood- 
mauser  had  a  saloon  in  Hartford  in  1883.  Later  Joseph 
Finch  and  William  Wright  began  a  saloon  on  March  3, 
1884.  Before  1884  Finch  operated  alone.  Frank  Austin 
took  out  license  on  September  5,  1881,  to  sell  liquor,  too. 
In  those  early  days  the  good  people  thought  that  the  town 
would  be  better  off  if  it  was  incorporated,  so  an  application 
was  filed  with  the  county  commissioners  March  2,  1884, 
asking  to  be  incorporated.  Daniel  J.  Paschal  made  the 
plat.  The  petition,  map  and  other  papers  were  posted  on 
the  door  of  Henry  Huddleson's  bakery  where  all  could  see 
them.  The  board  of  county  commissioners  ordered  an  elec- 
tion held  on  March  31,  1884,  to  see  if  the  majority  of  people 
wished  to  be  incorporated.  The  voters  were  duly  warned 
of  the  election  by  notices  which  appeared  in  the  English 
Reporter  for  ten  days  before  the  election.  On  election  day 
the  voters  met  at  9  a.  m.  and  elected  Henry  A.  Smith, 
James  Bobbitt  and  Sylvester  J.  Louisa  inspectors  of  the 
election.  Each  one  was  duly  qualified.  The  two  inspectors 
chose  Louisa  clerk.  Fifty-eight  voted  for  incorporating  and 
thirty-one  against  it.  Eighty-nine  votes  were  cast  in  all. 
The  board  approved  the  action  of  the  people  and  ordered 
the  town  incorporated.  Henry  A.  Smith  was  appointed 
justice  of  the  peace  and  Francis  F.  Taylor  constable. 

The  newspaper  which  had  been  running  for  some  time 
was  the  English  Reporter.  On  March  3,  1883,  the  editor 
received  $36.20  for  printing. 

William  T.  Thornbury,  trustee  of  the  town  of  English, 
wished  a  refunding  order  in  favor  of  English  corporation 


ENGLISH  AFTER  THE  WAR  383 

against  Sterling  township  for  the  tax  collected  on  the 
one-fourth  mile  railroad.  He  wished  the  railroad  assessed 
with  the  town  tax  in  1893. 

Back  in  1873  Peter  M.  Huddleston  filed  his  bond  for 
license  to  sell  liquor  in  English.  These  men  were  on  his 
bond:  John  L.  Temple,  William  Toney,  Price  Criswell, 
Martin  H.  Tucker,  J.  W.  Ray,  James  S.  Standiford,  James 
Hughes,  T.  B.  Cummins,  J.  W.  Michael,  J.  H.  Ray  and 
M.  P.  Smith.  His  bond  was  fixed  at  $3,000  and  a  license 
was  granted. 

AV.  H.  Toney,  whose  name  appeared  above,  was  not 
very  well  liked  by  many  people  for  a  long  time.  He  was 
rather  overbearing  in  his  manner.  One  night  the  White- 
caps  took  him  out  and  gave  him  a  tremendous  flogging 
with  hickories.  At  that  time  there  were  many  Whitecaps 
in  that  part  of  the  county. 

Samuel  Benz  built  a  new  store  building  in  1896.  This 
was  the  first  brick  business  house  in  the  town.  The  house 
is  still  used  by  Mr.  Benz.  When  Governor  McCray  visited 
the  county  in  1921  he  said  that  he  did  not  want  to  leave 
town  without  calling  on  Mr.  Benz.  So  he  went  to  the 
store  and  saw  his  place  of  business. 

That  same  year  Doctor  Charles  D.  Luckett  built  what 
is  known  as  the  stone  building;  this  was  an  exceedingly 
strong  building.  The  writer  was  unable  to  find  out  what 
these  buildings  cost.  At  present  James  M.  Tucker  has  a 
store  in  the  building  which  he  bought  from  Doctor  Luckett 
several  years  ago. 

With  the  coming  of  the  county  seat  in  1896  English 
began  to  grow.     The  Hazel  woods  built  a  home  near  the 


384         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

sulphur  springs  and  the  place  took  on  the  appearance  of 
a  sanitarium. 

In  the  summer  of  1887  the  old  soldiers  planned  a  re- 
union at  English.  The  beech  woods  north  of  town  were 
used  for  that  purpose.  Tents  were  pitched,  watermelon 
stands  erected,  sideshows,  dancing  place,  red  lemonade 
stands  and  many  other  things  were  there  to  encourage  the 
boys  to  part  with  their  dimes.  The  large  pavilion  which 
had  been  built  for  dancing  was  always  well  filled.  The 
reunion  generally  lasted  three  days. 

The  old  soldiers  were  given  free  meals  of  beans,  hard- 
tack and  black  coffee.  The  week  was  a  great  event  in 
English.  Congressmen  usually  came  and  delivered  a  touch- 
ing oration  to  the  "Old  Boys  in  Blue." 

Since  the  above  date  a  reunion  is  held  annually  in 
English.  At  one  of  the  reunions  Charles  T.  Brown  deliv- 
ered an  address.  At  that  time  he  was  a  mere  boy,  but  now 
has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  best  lawyers  in  Indiana. 

The  Indiana  Gazetteer  for  1895  lists  these  men :  S.  B. 
Adams,  general  grocery;  S.  Benz,  general  clothing  store; 
Doctor  Brent  &  Son,  druggists;  A.  H.  Brown,  barber; 
Brown  &  Mather,  flour  mill;  Condra  Brothers,  masons; 
Joe  Finch,  saloon ;  Frank  Goldman,  hoop  man ;  George 
Hazelwood,  physician ;  J.  M.  Hammond,  physician ;  Bell 
Hubbard,  milliner;  J.  C.  Cline,  tailor;  C.  D.  Luckett, 
phj'sician  and  jeweler;  D.  S.  Luckett  and  Lizzie  Luckett, 
hotel ;  J.  V.  McCoy,  general  store ;  James  Miller,  jeweler ; 
W.  E.  Moore,  livery  stable;  J.  C.  Patton,  general  store; 
E.  Roberson,  sawmill;  Charles  Rosenbarger,  grocery;  W.  J. 
Shopp,  notions;  H.  A.  Smith,  saddler;  Starr  &  Son,  hard- 


ENGLISH  AFTER  THE  WAR  385 

ware;  Benjamin  Temple  &  Brothers,  hardware;  W.  W. 
Temple,  general  grocery;  F.  S.  Weil,  shoemaker. 

A.  H.  Brown,  who  is  still  in  the  barber  business,  de- 
serves mention.  He  has  won  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  his  patrons,  of  whom  he  has  a  large  number. 

Steve  Patton,  too,  is  one  of  the  substantial  citizens 
of  English.  He  is  still  in  the  mercantile  business  on  Fifth 
Street. 

William  E.  Moore,  who  was  in  the  livery  business,  is  a 
lifelong  citizen  of  English.  He  has  seen  the  growth  of  the 
town  from  a  few  log  cabins  to  the  modern  homes  on  East 
Fifth  Street. 

Another  citizen  of  English  for  about  thirty  years  is 
James  A.  Hughes.  He  is  in  the  feed,  stable  and  livery 
business. 

About  1884  a  new  two-room  school  was  built  in  English. 
Up  to  the  Civil  War  an  old  log  schoolhouse  graced  the 
town  of  cabins  and  frame  houses.  Early  in  the  nineties  a 
new  schoolhouse  which  had  several  rooms  was  constructed 
in  the  west  end  of  town,  near  where  the  Camp  Fork  runs 
into  Dog  Creek  and  Brownstown  Fork.  The  teachers  for 
the  year  1897  were  R.  A.  Brown,  principal;  E.  A.  Weath- 
ers, assistant;  Guido  B.  Hammond,  grammar  grades,  and 
Nettie  Gregory,  primary. 

A  water  company  was  organized  and  a  reservoir  built 
on  Court  Hill.  The  reservoir  was  fed  by  a  spring  which 
guaranteed  fresh  water. 

A  fire  department,  well-equipped  with  hose,  was  or- 
ganized about  this  time.  An  electric  light  plant  was  estab- 
lished in  1896  and  the  streets  were  lighted  some.  By  that 
time  some,  too,  had  sidewalks. 


386  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

One  of  the  leading  business  firms  in  1897  was  Duffin, 
Gregory  &  Company.  Their  large  store  stood  on  the  corner 
lot  now  owned  by  Doctor  Goble. 

A  very  disastrous  fire  visited  English  on  Tuesday 
night,  January  21,  1901.  Duffin  &  Gregory's  large  store, 
which  was  valued  at  $11,000  and  insured  for  $7,500, 
burned  to  the  ground. 

M.  N.  Tucker's  feed  store,  valued  at  $1,000,  with  no 
insurance,  was  a  total  loss.  Andrew  Rothrock  owned  the 
building. 

Roberts  &  Miller's  drug  store  was  burned,  but  was 
partly  covered  by  insurance.  The  building  was  owned 
by  John   H.   Luckett. 

The  English  Opera  House,  Thomas  Bowman's  building 
and  Suddarth's  law  office  were  burned,  while  the  stone 
building  was  damaged. 

W.  T.  Suthards,  Till  Luckett,  J.  D.  Fleming,  Mallie 
Land,  Fil  Rosenbarger,  Ben  Mathers,  J.  L.  Louis,  James 
J.  Longest  and  Cal  Duly  worked  very  hard  to  save  Finch's 
building,  while  James  F.  Jones  and  Elsby's  buildings  were 
damaged. 

A  spoke  and  hub  mill  was  built  about  1897  under  the 
name  of  the  English  Electric  Company. 

By  1896  there  were  three  churches  in  town — Christian, 
Methodist  and  Presbyterian. 

The  town  officers  for  1897  were  W.  S.  Gregory,  Charles 
Rosenbarger  and  G.  I.  Shaw,  Charles  Fitzgerald,  clerk,  and 
James  M.  Bird,  treasurer.     Thomas  Burnett  was  marshal. 

A  little  park  was  marked  out  in  the  west  end  of  town 
where  a  statue  of  William  H.  English  was  erected.     Since 


KNlllilsn   AFTER  THE  WAR  387 

the  World  War  a  captured  German  field  gun  has  been 
placed  in  the  park  near  English's  statue. 

The  English  News,  which  is  the  only  Republican  paper 
in  the  county,  was  established  in  English  many  years  be- 
fore the  county  seat  was  moved.  For  many  years  James  E. 
Stuart  published  the  paper  till  he  sold  out  to  Arthur  H. 
Flannigan  about  1919.  Since  that  date  Thomas  S.  Austin 
has  been  the  publisher.  Although  it  is  owned  by  the 
Democrat  editor,  Austin  published  the  paper  as  a  Repub- 
lican publication. 

In  1902  Thomas  B.  Sonner  and  Charles  W.  Dotson 
conducted  a  spring  normal  in  English.  Students  from  all 
parts  of  the  county  were  there.  For  several  years  there 
had  been  normals  taught  at  English,  in  one  of  which  Louis 
Turman  and  P.  A.  Simons  were  the  instructors.  While 
living  in  English  a  son  was  born  to  Louis  and  Mrs.  Tur- 
man. This  Turman  now  has  a  Chair  of  Education  in  the 
University  of  California.  With  the  help  of  these  men  Eng- 
lish became  a  center  of  education.  The  English  schools 
became  the  best  organized  in  many  respects  of  any  school 
in  southern  Indiana. 

In  1908  the  Turley  Brothers  began  business.  Without 
doubt  they  have  been  two  of  the  best  business  men  in  the 
town.  Alfred  Turley  became  a  lumber  dealer  and  James 
Turley  became  a  dealer  in  hardware  and  farm  implements. 
The  men  are  now  successful  business  men  with  much  cap- 
ital behind  them.  Alfred  Turley  lost  his  entire  stock  of 
lumber  in  a  disastrous  fire  in  1925.  The  stock  was  partly 
covered  by  insurance.  He  rebuilt  in  a  short  time  and  is 
now  ready  to  serve  his  many  friends  and  customers. 

Two  more  English  boys  wrho  have  worked  hard  to  build 


388  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

up  the  town,  improve  business  and  promote  the  best  inter- 
ests of  all  the  people  financially,  as  well  as  relieving  pain, 
were  Guido  Hammond  and  Felix  Hammond.  One  became 
a  physician  and  the  other  a  dentist.  They  have  been  inter- 
ested in  the  schools  of  the  town  and  the  best  interests  of 
the  people. 

The  schools  grew  rapidly  in  English  until  the  school 
board  found  it  necessary  to  construct  a  new  house  of  a 
modern  type.  A  fine  lot  of  ground  was  secured  out  of  town 
to  the  east.  The  house  was  built  of  brick  and  is  two  stories 
high.  The  manual  training  and  domestic  science  depart- 
ments are  in  the  basement,  The  people  of  English  have 
been  fortunate  in  securing  good  men  to  teach  their  schools 
the  last  few  years,  among  whom  were  Monroe  Melton,  H.  W. 
Toney,  Elmer  McCullum  and  S.  A.  Beals.  The  new  school- 
house  was  completed  for  use  about  1914  at  a  cost  of  about 
$18,000.     C.  D.  Luckett  was  the  contractor. 

In  1921  Mr.  Rice  of  Louisville  came  to  English  and 
organized  a  company  of  business  men  who  agreed  to  fur- 
nish capital  enough  for  a  basket  factory.  The  building 
was  completed  by  the  fall  of  1921  and  many  men  moved 
to  English  to  secure  work.  One  can  not  thoroughly  de- 
scribe the  factory.  The  building  is  located  south  of  the 
railroad  on  the  Leavenworth  and  Hartford  road. 

Lee  Cotner,  who  had  married  Dora  McFall,  came  to 
English  and  built  a  large  hotel.  The  work  began  in  De- 
cember, 1901,  and  was  completed  in  time  for  the  Normal 
students  in  1902.  Later  he  sold  out  and  left.  To-day  the 
"Brick"  hotel  is  one  of  the  best  in  southern  Indiana. 

In  January,  1906,  a  canning  factory  was  established  in 
English  by  C.  B.  Newland.    Later  it  was  sold  to  the  Eng- 


ENGLISH  AFTER  THE  WAR  389 

lish  Canning  and  Manufacturing  Company  in  June,  1906. 
Now  it  is  owned  by  Greggs  and  Company  who  employ 
abont  a  hundred  people  during  the  canning  season. 

The  Crawford  County  State  Bank  was  organized  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1905,  in  English.  The  stockholders  were  Elsby, 
Setser,  Bell,  Alexander,  Boyd,  Balthis  and  Eckerty.  John 
Miller  was  chosen  cashier. 

On  April  5,  1905,  about  2  :30  p.  m.  occurred  the  tragic 
death  of  Thomas  Cummins.  He  had  gone  to  get  some 
fertilizer  for  a  man  when  he  became  interested  in  watching 
a  man's  team  which  was  trying  to  run  away.  So  he  stood 
on  the  railroad  track  until  a  fast  train  hit  him.  Cummins, 
who  was  a  leading  Democratic  politician,  had  many  friends 
in  Crawford  County. 

On  April  12,  1905,  Honorable  John  Luckett,  of  Eng- 
lish, who  had  been  the  prosecuting  attorney  of  Crawford 
County  for  four  years,  and  Miss  Ruth  Anna  Muir  of  New 
Albany  were  married  in  New  Albany  at  4 :00  p.  m.  by  Rev- 
erend Arch  Cree. 

On  Saturday,  May  19,  1906,  a  very  destructive  fire  oc- 
curred in  English.  It  was  first  discovered  about  12 :30 
a.  m.  at  the  rear  of  Boyd's  store.  The  people  responded 
to  the  fire  alarm  and  fought  bravely,  but  the  fire  had  gained 
such  a  start  that  it  was  not  controlled  till  the  following 
business  houses  were  burned  out:  Boyd  store,  valued  at 
$10,000;  Temple's  store,  valued  at  $7,000;  Crawford 
County  Bank,  valued  at  $3,000;  M.  W.  of  A.  parapher- 
nalia, $300;  Stewart's  postoffice,  valued  at  $150;  L.  V. 
Starr's  tin  shop,  $800;  Mrs.  Mather's  household  goods, 
$50;  J.  R.  Leonard's  property,  $800;  Roberts'  drug  store, 
valued  at  $300. 


390  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  insurance  covered  part  of  the  above  losses. 

The  conductor  on  the  midnight  passenger  train  told 
Marshal  W.  E,  Cummins  of  English  that  two  "bummers" 
had  set  the  bridge  on  fire  at  Temple.  Cummins,  who  was 
watching  for  the  tramps,  found  them  near  the  railroad 
track.  Trouble  occurred  in  which  Cummins  was  seriously 
shot  by  one  of  the  men.  He  was  taken  to  Louisville  for 
medical  treatment.  The  tramps  escaped.  The  shooting 
occurred  at  English  on  April  24,  1907. 

During  the  school  year  of  1906-07  L.  C.  Jones,  who  had 
been  hired  to  teach  the  No.  10  school  in  Sterling  township, 
had  some  trouble  with  one  of  Woodson  Satterfield's  sons. 
Satterfield  became  angry  because  Jones  punished  his  son. 
On  April  12,  1907,  when  Jones  had  closed  his  school  for 
the  year  and  was  leaving  for  English,  Satterfield  came  up 
and  assaulted  Jones,  striking  him  over  the  head  and  beat- 
ing him  severely.  Satterfield  escaped.  Jones  sued  him 
for  damages,  but  the  records  are  not  clear  as  to  whether 
or  not  he  received  any  money. 

The  good  people  of  English  have  always  been  inter- 
ested in  morality  and  churches.  On  February  2,  1906,  an 
order  was  given  that  saloons  should  be  closed  on  the  Sab- 
bath day. 

The  friends  of  Arthur  Garfield  Bobbitt  were  pleased  to 
hear  that  he  had  won  the  Foster  prize  on  the  "Trent 
Affair"  in  Bloomington,  June  29,  1906.  Bobbitt  was  the 
son  of  James  Bobbitt  of  English. 

On  August  25,  1906,  the  Democrats  of  Harrison,  Perry 
and  Crawford  Counties  met  at  English  to  see  if  they  could 
adjust  the  Zenor-Cox  muddle.    At  this  meeting  John  Benz 


ENGLISH  AFTER  THE  WAR  391 

was  named  for  stale  senator,  John  Sweeney  for  joint- 
representative,  and  John  Ewing  for  prosecuting  attorney. 

On  June  15,  1910,  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
occurred  the  wedding  of  Cecil  Lenore  Suddarth  of  Eng- 
lish and  Nicholas  Harrison  of  Alton.  Miss  Ruth  Carr 
played  the  wedding  march.  Curran  Suddarth,  Mansfield 
Ellsworth  and  Harry  Boyd  were  ushers.  Reverend  J.  W. 
Trowbridge  officiated.  The  groom  was  the  son  of  Lycur- 
gus  Harrison  of  Alton  and  the  bride  was  the  daughter  of 
Jerry  L.  Suddarth  of  English. 

Another  fire  threatened  to  destroy  English  on  July  24, 
1912.  The  building  owned  by  W.  E.  Cummins,  in  which 
Cummins  and  Toney's  store  was  located,  burned  to  the 
ground.     The  building  was  covered  by  insurance. 

When  B.  T.  Temple  came  to  his  store  March  15,  1915, 
he  discovered  that  some  one  had  gained  entrance  to  his 
store  through  a  rear  window.  The  safe  had  been  blown 
open  and  about  $800  taken.  He  secured  bloodhounds  from 
Tell  City  but  the  dogs  could  not  locate  the  robbers. 

After  the  county  seat  was  moved  to  English  in  1896 
the  editor  of  the  Crawford  County  Democrat  moved  his 
paper  to  English.  The  Democrat  is  the  oldest  paper  in 
Crawford  County.  It  dates  back  to  near  the  Civil  War. 
VanZante,  William  Ellsworth  and  Hal  Ellsworth  were 
early  editors.  Hal  A.  Ellsworth  owned  the  paper  at  the 
time  of  its  moving  to  English.  Ellsworth  sold  the  paper 
to  D.  W.  Flanigan  about  1905.  Flanigan,  who  had  been 
a  teacher  all  his  life,  made  a  good  editor  until  his  death 
a  few  years  ago.  Then  his  brother,  Arthur  Flanigan, 
bought  the  paper.  He  has  been  the  editor  since  about 
1916.    Flanigan,  who  is  a  jolly  good-natured  business  man, 


392  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

has  made  a  success  with  the  paper.  He  is  a  graduate  of 
the  Central  Normal  College  at  Danville  and  is  well  pre- 
pared for  his  work.  While  he  is  a  Democrat  in  politics, 
yet  he  is  very  broad-minded  in  his  views.  His  leading 
helper  is  a  Republican.  About  1919  he  bought  out  the 
English  News  from  James  Stewart  and  combined  the  two 
papers  in  a  way.  The  News  is  run  by  Thomas  Austin  as 
a  Republican  paper. 

The  year  of  1921  was  a  noted  year  for  building.  The 
Hammond  Brothers  began  work  on  their  new  garage  build- 
ing, which  is  to  be  90  x  50  feet.  The  Masonic  Lodge  voted 
to  build  a  hall  over  the  garage  when  it  is  complete.  The 
new  Motion  Picture  Theater  will  be  90  x  40  feet.  There 
will  be  room  in  the  Masonic  Hall  for  a  dining-room  besides 
the  other  rooms. 

The  English  State  Bank,  which  is  one  of  the  best  in 
southern  Indiana,  began  to  enlarge  its  quarters.  The  work 
was  not  completed  for  a  long  time. 

William  Rice  of  Louisville  came  to  English  in  May, 
1921,  and  met  the  business  men  of  the  town,  who  turned 
out  in  a  body.  Rice  stated  his  proposition  and  made  an 
offer  that  if  the  town  would  subscribe  $40,000  for  pre- 
ferred stock  he  would  consider  the  proposition  of  locating 
his  hub  mill  and  basket  factory  in  English.  Two-thirds 
of  the  amount  was  raised  in  a  few  minutes.  Before  he  left 
English  the  sum  was  raised.  The  hub  mill  will  cost 
$85,000.  The  English  people  subscribed  for  $35,000  worth 
of  preferred  stock.  The  site  for  the  mill  was  located  south 
of  the  railroad  near  the  station.  The  factory  was  built 
during  the  summer  of  1921  and  the  men  began  making 
baskets  that  fall  and  winter.     A  large  warehouse,  which 


ENGLISH  AFTER  THE  WAR  393 

had  formerly  been  used  by  Alfred  Turley,  was  used  for 
storing  the  baskets.  A  large  number  of  hands  were  em- 
ployed that  fall  and  winter. 

On  Friday  evening,  March  25,  1922,  the  large  ware- 
room  of  the  basket  factory,  which  was  65  x  165  feet  and 
filled  with  baskets,  the  value  of  which  was  estimated  at 
$15,000,  was  discovered  on  fire.  No  one  knows  just  how 
the  fire  started.  The  fire  had  gained  such  headway  that  it 
was  beyond  control.  The  building  was  totally  destroyed 
by  the  fire.  Two  big  trucks  were  also  burned.  Reverend 
C.  E.  Davis  ran  into  the  driveway  and  drove  one  of  the 
trucks  out.  John  S.  Atkins  lost  a  building  which  was 
filled  with  fertilizer  belonging  to  the  Hopkins  Fertilizer 
Company.  The  blacksmith  shop,  which  belonged  to  James 
Dicus,  was  a  total  loss.  The  company  had  $10,000  insur- 
ance on  this  building  and  its  contents  The  machinery, 
valued  at  $20,000,  was  covered  by  insurance. 

Mr.  Rice,  who  is  the  president  of  the  basket  factory, 
began  building  another  warehouse  on  the  same  spot,  which 
was  soon  completed. 

The  Turley  Hub  and  Rim  Factory  was  built  in  English. 

The  Rice  Basket  Factory  in  the  winter  of  1923  was 
again  burned.  No  one  knows  how  this  fire  originated.  The 
company  rebuilt  again.  C.  T.  Brown  became  the  manager 
when  Rice  sold  out  and  left. 

The  town  of  English  was  visited  by  another  fire  during 
the  winter  of  1924.  The  previous  attempt  to  burn  out 
certain  buildings  across  from  Temple's  store  where  Rob- 
erts had  his  place  of  business  had  failed  in  1923.  Men 
discovered  the  fire  which  was  soon  extinguished.  Last 
winter  the  fire  was  not  discovered  until  it  was  beyond 


394         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

control  The  whole  corner,  where  Hammond  and  Patton's 
drug  store  was  located,  burned  down. 

The  Hammond  Brothers  began  to  build  again.  The 
new  house  is  to  have  a  basketball  hall  and  skating  rink.  The 
new  gymnasium  was  opened  on  Friday,  November  13, 
1925.  Marengo  and  English  met  on  the  floor  with  a 
double-header  in  basketball.  English  boys  won  both 
games. 

When  the  moving  picture  theater  was  completed  in 
1922  Guy  Longest  became  manager  of  the  theater. 

Another  prominent  business  man  of  English  is  B.  T. 
Temple.  He  has  spent  about  all  his  life  in  English.  The 
Temples  belong  to  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  respected 
business  families  of  the  county. 

A  brief  account  of  English  would  not  be  complete  with- 
out mention  of  James  Hughes  who  has  a  livery  and  feed 
stable  in  English.  In  1914  he  bought  a  new  automobile  to 
use  in  his  service. 

In  the  summer  of  1925  a  new  bank  was  organized  in 
English.  The  office  of  Doctor  Gobbel  was  secured  for  the 
new  bank.  Ernest  Brown  became  the  new  cashier  and 
Myrtle  L.  Meriwether  became  assistant  cashier  and  book- 
keeper. The  citizens  subscribed  the  proper  amount  of 
stock  easily.  The  officers  were  :  President,  Doctor  Gobbel ; 
vice-president,  J.  A.  Blevins;  cashier,  E.  L.  Brown.  The 
board  of  directors  were :  J.  W.  Bird,  F.  R.  Gobbel,  Porter 
Eckerty,  0.  S.  Johnson,  J.  F.  Temple,  H.  H.  Grant  and 
E.  L.  Brown. 

Doctor  Gobbel,  who  has  been  one  of  the  leading  citizens 
for  many  years,  began  building  a  new  office  building.  At 
the  date  of  writing  he  has  it  about  complete.     The  build- 


ENGLISH  AFTER  THE  WAR  395 

ing  will  be  a  valuable  asset  to  the  town.  It  is  the  first 
hospital  in  the  county. 

The  week  of  January  16,  1922,  was  a  remarkable  week 
in  educational  circles  of  Crawford  County.  The  town  of 
English  was  visited  by  the  Indiana  Survey  Commission. 
The  first  meeting  of  the  commission  was  held  in  the  county 
superintendent's  office  at  the  court  house  where  the  direc- 
tor explained  the  method  of  procedure  to  the  men  who 
were  to  give  the  tests.  Doctor  Childs  of  Indiana  Univer- 
sity was  the  director  and  Professor  Thompson  of  Hanover 
College  was  to  assist  him.  After  a  careful  survey  of  the 
map  the  director  ordered  County  Superintendent  Lindsey 
of  Spencer  County  and  Superintendent  Sam  Scott  of  Jef- 
fersonville  to  go  to  Eckerty.  Superintendent  Harding 
went  to  Taswell.  Clinton  Gamble  of  Scottsburg  went  to 
West  Fork;  Glenn  Scott  of  New  Albany  and  Superin- 
tendent Mather  of  Salem  worked  out  of  English.  Super- 
intendent Hutchinson  of  the  Salem  schools  wTent  to  Mill- 
town  ;  Professor  May  of  Indiana  University  went  to  Alton. 
The  men  were  to  visit  two  schools  each  day.  .  The  work 
was  so  well  planned  that  only  one  school  was  missed.  This 
was  the   Crecelius  school  where   Mae   McFarland  taught. 

The  field  workers  completed  the  county  districts  and 
returned  to  English  on  Friday,  where  they  visited  the 
English  schools. 

The  material  was  packed,  the  bills  paid  and  the  visitors 
thanked  Mr.  Walker  for  his  courteous  treatment  when  they 
were  at  the  hotel.  The  test  sheets  were  shipped  to  New 
York  where  they  were  examined  by  experts  and  report 
made  later. 

The  men  had  many  amusing  stories  to  tell.     Sam  Scott 


396  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

said  that  he  was  lost  on  the  way  to  Oak  Hill  for  some  time 
but  managed  to  get  back.  He  asked  the  teacher  where  he 
was  when  the  party  shot  through  the  schoolhouse  door. 
He  answered  that  he  was  not  in  the  house.  Superintendent 
Mather,  who  made  the  trip  to  Mount  Sterling,  was  lost  for 
about  an  hour  till  some  one  came  along  who  showed  him 
the  way  to  the  school. 

Glenn  Scott  met  with  some  narrow  escapes  on  the  road 
to  Burkhart,  the  roads  being  almost  impassable.  Scott  and 
Harding  were  much  pleased  with  their  drivers,  B.  T.  Mc- 
Fairland  and  J.  R.  Crews. 

One  Saturday  night  in  January,  1926,  as  Rudolph 
Parker  with  a  car  full  of  friends  was  driving  out  of  Eng- 
lish about  10  :10  p.  m.,  a  fast  freight  train  was  approach- 
ing from  the  east.  Parker  drove  the  sedan  on  the  track 
just  right  to  be  hit  by  the  train.  Arthur  Bird  heard  the 
freight  train  coming  and  tried  to  warn  the  driver  as  he 
crossed  the  track,  but  was  unsuccessful.  Bird  ran  up 
town  and  called  for  help.  The  freight  train  stopped  as 
soon  as  it  could  after  the  terrible  affair.  The  car  was 
demolished  outright  and  its  occupants  were  scattered  up 
the  track  for  some  distance.  The  train  blocked  the  track 
till  the  crossing  was  cut.  In  the  meanwhile  many  climbed 
over  the  couplings  to  see  what  had  happened,  for  the  car 
and  its  occupants  were  scattered  on  the  south  side  of  the 
track.  The  occupants  of  the  car  were :  Rudolph  Parker, 
Mrs.  Parker,  Eunice  Parker,  Mrs.  Curtis  Lone,  Bessie 
Roberson,  Bethel  Roberson,  Lura  Parker  and  Kenneth  Fer- 
guson. Of  the  above,  Rudolph  Parker,  Mrs.  Parker,  Bessie 
Roberson,  Eunice  Parker  and  Mrs.  Lone  died  during  the 
night.    They  were  carried  to  Doctor  Gobbel  's  Hospital  and 


ENGLISH  AFTER  THE  WAR  397 

medical  aid  was  rendered  by  Doctors  G.  B.  Hammond, 
Charles  Luckett,  Felix  Hammond  and  F.  R.  and  N.  E. 
Gobbel.  The  doctors  of  English  are  to  be  commended  for 
the  help  rendered.  Mrs.  Mayme  Moss  and  Mrs.  Mae  Bird 
acted  as  nurses  Saturday  night  until  they  were  relieved. 
The  three  who  were  not  killed  were  taken  to  New  Albany 
for  treatment. 

The  crossing  has  been  considered  a  dangerous  one  for 
some  time.  Harrison  Sarles,  who  was  driving  across  the 
track,  was  killed  about  noon,  February  4,  1922.  Joseph 
Miller,  an  old  Union  soldier,  was  killed  in  1918. 

The  Order  of  the  Eastern  Star  was  organized  in  Eng- 
lish on  July  24,  1913.  There  were  thirty  charter  members. 
The  Leavenworth  degree  staff  came  over  and  conferred 
the  degree.  The  officers  of  the  chapter  were :  Mrs.  Joel 
Melton,  Worthy  Matron;  Henry  Mock,  Worthy  Patron; 
Mrs.  J.  E.  Stewart,  Associate  Matron;  Mrs.  H.  W.  Mock, 
Conductress;  Mrs.  Oliver  Belvins,  Associate  Conductress; 
Nellie  Thornbury,  Secretary;  Mrs.  Harris  Brown,  Treas- 
urer and  G.  W.  Cuzzart,  Sentinel.  Refreshments  were 
served  at  the  Commercial  Hotel.  The  officer  sent  from 
Indianapolis  to  inspect  the  work  arrived  late  on  account 
of  a  railroad  accident. 

Probably  one  of  the  largest  land  sales  which  ever  oc- 
curred in  English  was  held  on  Saturday,  May  15,  1926. 
The  addition  to  English  was  known  as  the  John  Temple 
addition.  About  1,500  people  from  all  parts  of  the  county 
were  present.  The  lots  were  sold  with  brisk  bidding. 
Prices  on  the  unimproved  lots  ran  from  $20  to  $520.  The 
addition  was  part  of  Joseph  Enlow's  farm  which  was  ad- 
jacent to  the  schoolhouse. 


398  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  auction  was  under  the  direction  of  Charles  Cook, 
formerly  of  Marengo,  head  of  the  Cook  Auction  Service  of 
Louisville.  He  was  assisted  by  six  other  members  of  the 
company.  Music,  which  was  furnished  by  a  ten-piece  band 
of  Louisville,  entertained  the  people  during  the  sale. 

The  lots  purchased  by  the  people  are  situated  as  fol- 
lows: On  East  Fifth  Street,  lots  one  and  two  and  a  three- 
acre  tract  south  of  the  creek.  North  of  East  Fifth  Street, 
lots  three  and  four,  Ed.  Velcein  of  Sulphur.  Lots  five  and 
six  on  corner  of  Fifth  and  Meridian  Streets,  E.  L.  Brown 
of  English.  West  on  Meridian  Street,  lots  seven  and 
eight,  Leonard  Cummins  of  English;  lots  nine  and  ten, 
Benton  Pierson  of  English;  lots  eleven,  twelve,  thirteen 
and  fourteen,  Ode  Eaton  of  Sulphur;  lots  fifteen,  sixteen, 
seventeen  and  eighteen,  Sherrod  King  of  English. 

Corner  of  Meridian  Street  and  the  English-Marengo 
pike,  tract  No.  2,  Volley  Smith  of  English. 

North  of  English  and  Marengo  pike  road,  lots  19,  20,  21 
and  22,  G.  C.  Stokes  of  English ;  lots  41  and  42,  S.  A.  Lamb- 
din  ;  lots  43  and  44,  English  Public  School. 

West  on  High  Street,  lots  23,  24,  25,  26,  27  and  28,  G.  C. 
Stokes  of  English ;  lots  29  and  30,  John  Tucker  of  English ; 
lots  31  to  40,  Denzil  Cummins;  a  forty-acre  tract  on  High 
Street  to  Claud  Brown. 

West  on  High  Street,  lots  45  and  46,  Lloyd  VanLowell ; 
lots  47,  48,  49  and  50,  Charles  Nash  of  English. 

East  on  Meridian  Street,  south  and  west  of  the  school, 
lots  51  and  52,  Carl  Conn;  lots  53  and  54,  Sam  Lambdin; 
lots  55,  56  and  57,  Kelly  Batman;  lots  58  and  59,  Ed. 
Velceim  of  Sulphur;  lots  60  and  61,  Henry  Knight;  lots 
62,  63  and  64,  Owen  Johnson  of  English. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    COUNTY   IN    THE   NINETIES 

For  a  long  time  the  people  of  Alton  wanted  a  bridge 
built  over  Little  Blue  River.  On  October  9,  1889,  A.  N. 
Peckinpaugh  and  John  T.  Hollcroft  agreed  to  give  $500 
toward  helping  construct  a  bridge.  Hamilton  Martin  and 
H.  S.  Batman  voted  to  accept  the  money,  but  James  G. 
Thurston  voted  "no."  The  board  finally  ordered  a 
bridge  built.  The  main  bridge  was  to  be  of  iron  and  150 
feet  long,  the  driveway  12  feet  wide.  The  second  span  was 
to  be  200  feet,  consisting  of  50-foot  spans,  supported  by 
iron  legs  with  abutments  and  wing  walls.  Bids  would  be 
opened  on  November  20,  1889.  Much  trouble  occurred  in 
various  ways  before  this  bridge  was  completed.  The  elec- 
tion of  1894  placed  two  Republican  county  commissioners 
in  office.  These  men  were  rather  careful  about  signing 
bonds  for  a  while.  However,  the  people  needed  the  bridge 
and  it  was  finally  completed. 

The  contract  was  let  to  the  Lafayette  Bridge  Company 
on  January  20,  1897.  The  bridge  was  built  at  Alton.  It 
was  420  feet  long.  The  roadway  was  to  be  14  feet  in  the 
clear.  The  cost  of  the  bridge  was  $7,300.  The  masonry 
was  paid  for  at  $4.25  per  cubic  foot.  The  three  county 
commissioners  were  John  E.  Funk,  Jacob  Partenheimer 
and  Willis  II.   Harvey.     Much  hard  feeling  existed  over 

399 


400         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  county  about  the  expenditure  of  so  much  money  for  a 
bridge  at  Alton,  yet  the  people  down  there  needed  a  bridge. 
Complaint  was  made  against  Willis  Harvey  when  he  was  a 
candidate  for  sheriff  in  1900  because  he  had  worked  for  this 
bridge. 

The  campaign  of  1890  was  warmly  contested  in  Craw- 
ford County.  For  Congress :  John  Bretz,  Democrat,  and 
William  Darnell,  Republican.  Joint  senator  :  Iverson  Lynn, 
Democrat,  and  David  Voyles,  Republican. 

For  joint  representative :  Volney  Trinkle,  Democrat, 
and  Owen  C.  Boyd,  Republican. 

For  prosecuting  attorney,  C.  W.  Cook,  Democrat,  and 
Ivan  Hottell,  Republican. 

For  judge,  W.  T.  Zenor,  Democrat,  and  R.  M.  Trace- 
well,  Republican. 

Clerk,  O.  A.  Adams,  Democrat;  F.  L.  Priest,  Repub- 
lican. Treasurer,  Joab  Stroud,  Democrat;  John  Serm,  Re- 
publican. Sheriff,  Burton  Brown,  Democrat;  Sam  Tucker, 
Republican.  Coroner,  Wm.  Forman,  Democrat ;  Charles 
Funk,  Republican.  Surveyor,  Sherman  Smith,  Democrat; 
Charles  Funk,  Republican.  Commissioner  of  first  district, 
Andrew  Scott,  Democrat;  David  R.  Stewart,  Republican. 
Commissioner  of  the  second  district,  James  Thurston, 
Democrat;   Henry  Jackson,  Republican. 

The  Democratic  ticket  was  elected  by  a  large  vote. 
Smith  qualified  for  county  surveyor,  but  resigned  after  a 
few  months  and  moved  away.  Dan  Paschal  was  appointed 
to  fill  the  vacancy. 

The  election  of  1892  was  a  warm  affair.  The  Peoples' 
party  had  a  national  ticket  in  the  field. 

Below  is  the  ticket  and  the  vote  each  man  received. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  401 

The  first  one  in  each  case  is  the  Democrat:  Congress: 
Bretz,  1,511;  Willoughby,  1,332.  Prosecutor:  Cook, 
1,512;  Hayes,  1,252.  Treasurer:  F.  P.  Walts,  1,390;  An- 
drew Funk,  1,247.  Sheriff:  James  Hughes,  1,490;  Peter 
Hilgert,  1,291.  Recorder:  James  M.  Brown,  1,484;  George 
Speedy,  1,246.  Surveyor:  Dan  Paschal,  1,493;  Jesse  Rid- 
dle, 1,250.  Coroner:  Wm.  Froman,  1,498;  Frank  Austin, 
1,236.  Commissioner,  third  district:  Amos  Atkins,  1,313; 
Patrick  DeWitt,  1,231.  County  Surveyor:  Martin  Miller, 
1,485;   Charles  Tillery,   1,241. 

The  Democratic  party  elected  the  whole  county  ticket. 
The  Peoples'  party  had  a  candidate  for  president.  The 
presidential  vote  was :  Cleveland,  Democrat,  1,529 ;  Har- 
rison, Republican,  1,276 ;  James  B.  Weaver,  F.  M.  B.  A., 
200. 

The  Marengo  people  were  highly  pleased  in  1891  over 
the  Marengo  Fair.  A  piece  of  ground  was  obtained  just 
south  of  the  town  where  a  half-mile  race  track  could  be 
constructed.  Suitable  houses  were  built  for  the  exhibits 
and  the  ground  fenced  in  by  a  high  board  fence.  John 
W.  Bird,  W.  S.  Hanger,  M.  M.  Terry,  W.  J.  Hawkins  and 
many  others  were  leading  citizens  who  helped  promote  the 
affair  with  the  help  of  F.  P.  Walts. 

Prizes  were  given  for  the  best  exhibits  of  stock  of  all 
kinds,  fruit,  vegtables  and  fancy  stock. 

The  racing  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  of 
the  fair.  Men  from  far  and  near  entered  their  horses  and 
some  good  racing  was  done. 

A  week  was  set  aside  for  the  fair  to  which  people  came 
from  everywhere.  A  fee  of  twenty-five  cents  was  charged 
at  the  door  or  gate  to  get  in.    This  sum  of  money  generally 


402  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

paid  all  expenses.  Thursday  was  the  big  day.  People 
came  to  meet  their  friends,  brought  dinner,  and  had  a 
joyful  time  all  day.  The  boys  enjoyed  the  hot  popcorn  and 
the  "hot-dog"  stands,  and  townspeople  cried  themselves 
hoarse  trying  to  sell  their  "lemonade  made  in  the  shade, 
stirred  with  a  spade"  or  their  "hoky-poky"  ice  cream. 
Cheap  shows  were  on  the  ground,  a  steam  swing,  f  err  is 
wheel  and  merry-go-round.  The  county  fair  was  a  day  of 
fun  to  old  and  young. 

Many  a  poor  country  boy  of  the  southern  part  of  the 
county  had  his  first  view  of  the  "high  life"  at  the  fair. 
He  generally  started  about  2  :00  a.  m.  and  by  break  of  day 
he  was  coming  down  old  White  Oak  Hill  into  "Jim 
Town  "-Marengo,  Springtown  or  Big  Springs.  The  writer 
remembers  his  first  sight  of  the  railroad  and  the  first  train 
which  passed.  Running  to  high  grounds  one  generally 
watched  the  train  pass  with  wonder. 

The  fair  has  grown  larger  and  better  every  year.  If  my 
reader  meets  me  there  in  the  future  may  our  meeting  be 
an  enjoyable  event. 

During  this  period  several  new  bridges  were  con- 
structed in  Crawford  County.  The  board  met  at  the  site 
for  Merrilee's  bridge  across  Little  Blue,  west  of  Beech- 
wood  about  two  miles,  on  June  15,  1891,  and  measured  the 
ground  and  work.  The  members  came  back  to  Leaven- 
worth and  received  bids  as  follows : 

Digging  and  walling : 
J'.  W.  Hudson,  first  class  masonry,  per  cubic  yard     $5.15 
Kinsey  Veatch,  first  class  masonry,  per  cubic  yard       4.40 
Henry  George,  first  class  masonry,  per  cubic  yard       5.00 
John  Doolittle,  first  class  masonry,  per  cubic  yard       4.00 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  403 

Thinking  the  bids  too  high  the  board  rejected  all  of 
them.    Later  Kinsey  Veatch  submitted  new  bids  as  follows : 

Digging-,  per  cubic  foot $0.40 

First  class  masonry   4.00 

Filling  for  the  rodaway   0.28 

Macadamizing,  per  cubic  foot 0.75 

The  board  ordered  Charles  T.  Myler  and  H.  K.  Batman 
to  meet  with  George  W.  Riddle  and  locate  a  site  for  the 
bridge  on  June  14,  1891.  The  bids,  thirteen  in  all,  were 
opened.  They  ran  from  $1,600  to  $2,100.  All  were  re- 
jected and  new  ones  asked  for.  Eight  new  ones  were  sub- 
mitted, ranging  from  $1,550  to  $1,780.  E.  J.  P.  Bracket 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  was  awarded  the  contract  at 
$1,550. 

The  bridge  was  completed  that  year  on  October  21, 
1891.     Kinsey  Veatch  was  paid: 

Stone  work,  307y2  cubic  yards  at  $4.00 $1,230.00 

Digging,  214%  cubic  yards  at  40  cents 85.95 

Dirt  fill,  37834  cubic  yards  at  28  cents 106.05 

Total  cost  of  work $1,422.05 

John  W.  Doolittle  built  the  135-foot  fill  for  $34. 

A  bridge  was  built  over  Bogard  Fork  in  this  period. 
The  board  ordered  it  built  at  Hubbard's  ford  on  the  Eng- 
lish road  March  6,  1894.  The  Brochett  Bridge  Company 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  was  awarded  a  contract  for  $350  and 
ordered  it  completed  by  September  18,  1894.  William 
Condra  built  the  abutments  at  $2.25  per  cubic  foot. 


404  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Joab  Stroud,  who  was  elected  county  treasurer  in  1890, 
took  his  office  in  August  and  died  December  26th  of  that 
same  year.  He  received  $61.90  for  taxes  and  did  not  give 
them  credit  on  the  books  of  the  county.  It  appears  that  he 
gave  them  receipts  for  their  money.  The  board  ordered 
suit  against  his  bond. 

On  July  8,  1892,  the  board  met  to  consider  the  prop- 
osition of  granting  a  right-of-way  to  the  Leavenworth, 
Pilot  Knob  and  Marengo  Turnpike  Company.  The  officers 
did  not  meet  the  county  commissioners.  The  commissioners 
charged  the  cost  of  the  meeting  up  to  them  which  was 
$15.50.  P.  H.  Willett  paid  the  bill.  Later  the  board 
granted  them  the  right-of-way  and  work  was  soon  begun. 
The  directors  were :  Wm.  C.  Ellsworth,  S.  E.  McFall,  Win. 
Everdon,  R.  H.  Willett,  William  E.  Green,  W.  V.  Weath- 
ers and  J.  C.  Archibald.  In  August,  1892,  bonds  were  sold 
by  the  directors  and  people  took  out  stock.  On  the  end  of 
the  road  at  Leavenworth  much  work  was  done  until  about 
two  miles  of  the  road  was  finished.  Beginning  at  Marengo 
the  road  was  completed  to  the  top  of  White  Oak  hill  when 
the  company  went  bankrupt.  Men  would  not  buy  stock  in 
the  road  and  the  undertaking  failed.  The  citizens  were 
too  poor  to  take  stock  in  such  an  undertaking. 

One  of  the  oldest  and  most  respected  families  in  Craw- 
ford County  was  the  Smith  family.  During  the  Dem- 
ocratic landslide  of  1890  one  finds  that  Sherman  Smith 
was  elected  county  surveyor.  His  bond  was  signed  by 
William  Temple,  James  D.  Morgan,  William  Sturgeon, 
M.  J.  Brown  and  William  Beasley.  For  various  reasons 
Smith  resigned  in  March,  1891,  and  the  board  appointed 
Daniel  J.  Paschal  to  fill  the  vacancy. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  405 

On  December  5,  1892,  the  board  granted  D.  M.  Hand- 
spire  a  license  to  rnn  a  ferry  over  Little  Blue  River  at 
Alton.     He  had  the  right  to  charge : 

Team  and  wagon  10c 

Four  horses  20c 

One  horse  and  buggy 10c 

Horse  and  rider  10c 

He  must  keep  ferry-boat  in  good  shape  and  one  good 
skiff  extra  to  accommodate  people. 

The  board  ordered  John  Doolittle  to  make  new  ballot 
boxes  for  the  election  boards  of  different  townships.  The 
boxes  were  18  inches  x  19  inches  x  9  inches  with  two  locks. 
The  booths  were  6%  feet  high  and  7%  feet  wide.  Doo- 
little received  $197  for  the  work.  The  work  was  ordered 
done  September  4,  1890. 

On  March  3,  1890,  the  board  ordered  all  the  books  of 
the  treasurer  and  auditor  run  from  the  term  of  Walter 
Seacat  down  to  January  11,  1890.  The  following  report 
was  made : 

"After  careful  work  the  records  were  found  correct 
except  in  minor  errors  back  to  Seacat 's  record.  The  ex- 
aminers were  not  able  to  run  his  books,  since  he  claims  that 
the  books  were  stolen.  Yet  one  can  not  see  why  a  thief 
would  want  to  steal  the  office  books  which  were  useless  to 
the  thief,  for  all  the  orders  had  been  cancelled.  The  com- 
missioners ought  to  be  more  careful  with  the  records. 
[Signed])  "Mart  Fleener. 


•>  i 


It  remains  to  tell  of  the  final  struggle  between  English 
and  Leavenworth  over  the  county  seat. 


406  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

A  special  meeting  was  held  at  English  in  October,  1893, 
at  which  a  committee  consisting  of  William  Richards,  Will- 
iam T.  Beasley  and  W.  T.  Carr  was  named.  This  commit- 
tee was  to  plan  the  campaign  and  give  Leavenworth  the 
fight  of  its  life.  Jim  Pro  bought  the  type  of  the  Marengo 
Observer  and  moved  it  to  English  and  started  a  paper 
there.  Pro  advocated  the  immediate  moving  of  the  county 
seat  to  English.  The  committee  employed  C.  W.  Cook, 
Mayor  Funk  and  Charles  Jewett,  lawyers. 

The  petitioners  were  R.  L.  Sloan,  G.  W.  Sloan,  W.  W. 
Temple,  T.  B.  Cummins,  M.  J.  Brown,  C.  D.  Luckett,  H.  A. 
Brown,  J.  R.  Crews,  H.  J.  Brown,  William  Luckett,  John 
Luckett  and  others.  Each  petition  had  twenty-five  names 
on  it  when  full.  They  were  to  return  the  petitions  when 
full  to  Andrew  J.  Goodman  who  inspected  them  carefully 
and  then  returned  them  to  Pro  and  W.  W.  Temple  for 
another  inspection,  after  which  they  were  returned  to 
Andrew  J.  Goodman.  He  then  filed  them  in  his  office 
properly  signed.  The  petitions  were  circulated  in  Novem- 
ber. They  were  ready  on  the  first  Monday  in  December  to 
make  a  grand  spectacular  drive  on  Leavenworth  and  get 
as  many  signers  as  they  could  on  their  wTay  from  English 
to  Leavenworth.  On  that  drive  they  secured  180  extra 
ones.     Then  the  legal  fight  began. 

The  remonstrators  had  hired  Robert  Tracewell,  Jerry 
Suddarth  and  John  Weathers. 

The  English  crowd  collected  all  their  petitions  and  at 
two  o'clock  entered  the  court  house  at  Leavenworth  and 
at  4:30  they  had  won  the  fight.  The  board  found  that 
English  had  about  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  the  voters  on  the 
petitions.     The  English  crowd  had  forged  several  names. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  407 

They  went  in  groups  of  three.  If  a  man  did  not  sign,  they 
signed  for  him  and  swore  he  signed.  If  lie  denied  signing 
they  proved  that  he  did. 

A  gentleman  of  Mifflin  said  that  three  of  them  came  to 
his  school  one  day  at  recess.  They  asked  him  who  a  certain 
man  was,  who  was  off  a  certain  distance  working.  He 
told  them.  Later  he  learned  that  this  man's  name  was  on 
the  petition.  That  gentleman  denied  signing  and  the  three 
swore  he  did.     He  could  do  nothing. 

Again  they  had  deposited  $250  to  pay  the  architect  and 
the  commissioners.  Also  two  acres  of  land  and  one-fourth 
of  an  acre  for  a  jail  were  deeded  to  the  county. 

The  board  ordered  the  petitioners'  wishes  granted  and 
the  county  seat  moved  to  English. 

The  remonstrators  filed  an  appeal  bond  and  took  the 
case  to  court. 

The  English  people  did  not  feel  that  their  side  would 
get  justice  at  Leavenworth.  Hence  they  asked  for  a 
change  to  Corydon.  Later  the  case  was  tried  under  Judge 
Davis  of  the  appellate  court. 

The  witnesses  had  a  large  map  of  the  county  placed 
on  the  floor  to  help  them  in  the  testimony.  The  trial  lasted 
three  weeks.  English  won.  There  was  great  rejoicing  on 
Dog  Creek  then.  But  the  rejoicing  was  checked  by  Judge 
Voyles  and  Judge  Zenor  issuing  an  injunction  against  the 
building  which  stopped  everything  for  a  while.  Voyles 
was  a  special  judge  to  hear  the  case  at  Leavenworth. 

Just  at  this  time  the  English  crowd  needed  a  modern 
Napoleon  to  handle  the  situation.  They  had  one  in  their 
midst,  capable  of  such  an  affair  and  powerful  enough  to 
handle  the  situation.    This  was  the  old  hero  of  many  battle- 


408         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

fields,  A.  J.  Goodman.  A  meeting  was  held  in  English  to 
decide  what  was  the  best  to  do.  The  committee  resigned 
and  Jack  Goodman  was  made  dictator.  He  planned  to  go 
over  and  get  the  books.  The  farmers  furnished  a  long 
string  of  wagons,  each  of  which  was  numbered.  They 
met  at  English  on  Sunday,  the  25th  of  April.  There  were 
three  sledge-hammers  to  break  open  the  doors  of  the  offices 
if  necessary  and  derricks  to  lift  the  safes  into  the  wagons 
if  needed.  A  quantity  of  dynamite  was  taken  along  and 
three  men  to  handle  it  in  case  it  was  needed.  One  was 
Jack  Nelson,  sometimes  called  "Dynamite  Jack"  after 
that, 

Jack  Goodman  drilled  his  cavalry  at  12  :30  a.  m.  and 
soon  had  the  horsemen  in  fine  shape.  At  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning  the  grand  party,  which  was  a  long  procession, 
started  for  Leavenworth.  There  were  no  radios  and  tele- 
phones then,  so  their  good  brothers  and  sisters  at  Leaven- 
worth knew  nothing  of  their  coming.  The  long  procession 
had  ninety-six  two-horse  wagons,  eighty-two  mounted 
guards  and  478  infantry.  That  strange  committee  arrived 
at  Leavenworth  about  7 :00  a.  m.  The  managers  waited 
on  the  county  officers  to  open  the  doors,  which  was  done 
about  eight  o'clock.  Then  the  loading  began.  Captain 
' '  Jack ' '  drilled  his  mounted  guards  and  the  infantry  in 
the  most  remarkable  manner.  Leavenworth  was  so  sur- 
prised they  could  do  nothing.  No  resistance  was  made. 
The  loading  was  done  easily  and  all  were  soon  on  the  road 
back.  That  night  the  records  were  piled  in  the  big  stone 
building  which  Luckett  was  building.  So  the  deed  was 
done.  Leavenworth  regretted  to  see  the  court  house  go, 
but  no  doubt  it  will  accommodate  more  people  there. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  409 

The  new  court  house,  which  was  the  first  real  one  the 
county  ever  built,  was  about  sixty-four  feet  square.  The 
contractors  were  Caldwell  and  Drake.  The  contract  was 
let  on  November  6,  1895.  The  architect  was  Oliver  W. 
Marble.  His  fee  was  $437.15.  The  contract  price  for  the 
building  was  $14,571.77,  but  before  it  was  completed  in 
every  detail  the  cost  reached  about  $48,000.  The  three 
commissioners  who  signed  the  contract  were  Amos  Atkins, 
Jacob  Parte^heimer  and  Willis  Harvey. 

The  sore  heads  and  broken  hearts  have  all  been  mended. 
Leavenworth  and  English  are  now  on  friendly  terms.  The 
county  seat,  no  doubt,  should  have  been  at  English. 

Out  of  courtesy  to  the  men  of  English  one  may  say 
that  C.  D.  Luckett,  John  McCoy,  George  Temple  and  others 
filed  a  bond  to  donate  $2,100  to  the  county.  The  appraisers 
had  said  that  the  old  buildings  at  Leavenworth  were  valued 
at  $2,100.     Hence,  they  would  donate  that  sum. 

On  March  3,  1894,  John  Weathers  and  R.  H.  Willett 
asked  permission  of  the  county  commissioners  to  erect  a 
telephone  line  from  Leavenworth  to  Marengo  and  thence 
to  English,  by  Grantsburg  to  English  from  Leavenworth. 
The  poles  were  in  no  way  to  interfere  with  the  traffic  on 
the  highway.  The  board  granted  them  the  right  to  set  the 
poles  along  the  highway.  William  Everdon  of  Tower  built 
the  line  from  Leavenworth  to  Marengo.  Poles  were  set, 
the  wire  stretched  and  the  switchboards  were  installed. 
By  1895  the  line  was  built  to  Alton,  thence  to  Sulphur  and 
English.  This  was  something  new  to  our  farmers.  They 
had  never  seen  a  telephone.  One  man  near  Alton  asked 
Captain  William  Everdon  how  he  could  talk  over  such  a 
thing.    "Do  you  put  the  wire  in  your  mouth  to  talk?"  he 


410         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

asked.  Some  time  after  the  line  was  completed  a  farmer 
near  Tower  came  along.  He  heard  the  wire  humming  at 
the  pole  When  he  stopped  at  the  Tower  postoffice  he  told 
the  crowd  that  as  he  came  along  he  heard  John  Weathers 
and  Dick  Willett  just  "cussin"  each  other.  Later  he 
learned  the  truth,  but  the  joke  was  on  him. 

When  the  Marengo  line  was  complete  Henry  Summers 
and  William  Everdon  were  the  first  two  who  talked  over 
the  line.  Mrs.  Ella  Murphy  also  talked  with  the  men  that 
Sunday  morning.  The  telephone  was  a  great  help  to  the 
people. 

During  the  summer  of  1897  the  Cumberland  Telephone 
Company  built  a  line  through  from  Leavenworth  to  Eng- 
lish and  West  Fork.  With  that  line  completed  much  good 
service  was  received. 

After  the  election  of  1892  the  good  people  of  Crawford 
County  experienced  one  of  the  worst  panics  ever  known  in 
the  history  of  the  county.  Business  was  at  a  standstill. 
As  long  as  the  farmer  could  sell  crossties  or  West  India 
staves  he  could  earn  a  living,  for  there  was  much  timber 
in  the  county.  But  by  1894  business  was  extremely  bad. 
Crossties  sold  for  nineteen  and  twenty-two  cents  each.  Men 
received  six  and  seven  cents  a  tie  for  making  them.  A 
good  tie  hacker,  after  the  timber  was  sawed,  could  make 
between  fifteen  and  twenty-five  ties  a  day,  depending  on 
the  timber.  In  rough  timber,  where  a  man  had  to  "buck" 
the  ties,  he  did  well  to  complete  ten.  But  about  this  time 
men  quit  paying  money  for  ties.  Working  men  were  given 
orders  to  the  store,  where  they  traded  out  the  orders. 
When  tax  paying  time  came  many  people  endured  such 
hardships  that  they  never  forgot  the  panic  of  1894. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  411 

Coxey's  Army  had  made  a  raid  on  Washington. 
Kelley's  Army  passed  Leavenworth  in  1894.  There  were 
about  700  of  them.  Leavenworth  was  frightened  for  fear 
the  men  would  stop  and  remain  there.  A  large  sum  of 
money  was  made  up  for  them.  The  saloons  were  closed. 
The  large  barrel  of  whiskey  which  Chester  Elliott  had  in 
his  saloon  was  rolled  by  Bill  Conrad  over  to  Johnny 
Stroud's  livery  stable  and  hidden  in  the  trash.  He  feared 
they  would  break  into  the  saloon  and  all  become  drunk. 
But  fortunately  they  never  stopped  at  Leavenworth 's  land- 
ing. They  presented  a  motley  array  as  the  boat  steamed 
up  the  river. 

The  campaign  in  the  county  went  against  the  Demo- 
crats in  1894.     The  figures  below  show  the  vote : 

Clerk  of  the  Court— R.  Clark,  Republican,  1,432;  0.  A. 
Adams,  Democrat,  1,315.     Clark's  majority,  108. 

Sheriff— W.  0.  Ballard,  Republican,  1,557;  J.  A. 
Hughes,  Democrat,  1,198.     Ballard's  majority,  359. 

County  Surveyor — J.  M.  Johnson,  Republican,  1,406; 
Dan  Paschal,  Democrat,  1,286.     Johnson's  majority,  120. 

Congress — R.  M.  Tracewell,  Republican,  1,376;  John 
Bretz,  Democrat,  1,344.     Tracewell 's  majority,  32. 

Prosecuting  Attorney — Albert  Funkhouser,  Repub- 
lican, 1,498;  Ivan  Hottell,  Democrat,  1,218.  Funkhouser 's 
majority,  280. 

Joint  Senator  of  Crawford,  Orange  and  Harrison 
Counties — George  Crandwill,  Republican,  1,386;  Daniel 
Lemmon,  Democrat,  1,323.    Crandwill 's  majority,  63. 

Auditor — James  D.  Fleming,  Democrat,  1,465 ;  Jesse 
Riddle,  Republican,  1,300.     Fleming's  majority,  165. 


412         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Coroner — George  Key,  Republican,  1,401 ;  John  Lank- 
ford,  Democrat,  1,284.     Key's  majority,  117. 

Commissioner  of  Second  District — Jacob  Partenheimer, 
Democrat,  1,451 ;  Hardin  Enlow,  Republican,  1,301.  Par- 
tenheimer's  majority,  150. 

County  Commissioner — Willis  Harvey,  Republican, 
1,377;  Amos  Atkins,  Democrat,  1,362.  Harvey's  ma- 
jority, 15. 

Commission  of  County — John  E.  Funk,  Republican, 
1,486;  A.  J.  Scott,  Democrat,  1,258.    Funk's  majority,  226. 

County  Treasurer — F.  P.  Walts,  Democrat,  1,541;  Mr. 
Taylor,  Republican,  1,212.     Walts'  majority,  329. 

By  1896  times  were  still  hard.  Money  was  scarce.  The 
people  believed  that  the  money  was  too  scarce.  One  faction 
advocated  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  at  the 
ratio  of  16  to  1,  while  another  division  of  the  voters  be- 
lieved in  the  Gold  Standard.  The  campaign  of  1896  was 
one  of  the  most  bitterly  contested  elections  ever  held  in  the 
county.  Men  became  angry  at  their  best  neighbors.  The 
old  party  lines  were  broken.  Many  Republicans  voted  for 
free  silver,  while  the  old-line  Democrats  in  many  places 
left  the  party.  At  a  great  Republican  rally  held  in  Leaven- 
worth in  October,  Captain  Nath  Collins,  who  had  been  a 
bitter  Democrat,  mounted  his  horse,  rode  out  about  two 
miles  and  met  the  procession  and  rode  at  its  head  with 
the  yellow  ribbon  flowing  from  his  horse  in  the  air.  Dick 
Willett,  the  county  chairman  of  the  Democrats,  resigned. 

One  of  the  amusing  things  which  happened  during  the 
campaign  was  Rainbolt's  race.  It  appeared  to  me  that 
Rainbolt   had   put   up    Major   McKinley's   picture   in  his 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  413 

store  window  hard  by  the  road  at  Tower.  One  day  a  man 
came  driving  along  the  road  in  a  two-horse  road  wagon. 
Rainbolt  was  down  at  the  barn,  which  was  a  short  distance 
from  the  house  and  store.  Evidently  the  man  in  the  wagon 
did  not  see  Rainbolt  or  he  would  not  have  done  what  he  did, 
but  anyway,  he  had  just  emptied  a  large  brandy  bottle. 
Looking  at  the  picture  a  second  he  drew  back  and  hurled 
the  bottle  at  the  picture  with  all  his  might.  Fortunately, 
he  missed  the  picture.  The  bottle  hit  the  weatherboarding 
with  a  terrible  crash.  Looking  up,  Rainbolt  saw  the  act. 
Losing  all  control  of  himself,  he  jumped  on  the  mare  which 
was  in  the  barn  and  bareback  he  made  for  the  road  with 
all  the  speed  he  could  muster.  In  the  meanwhile  the  women 
were  out,  and  the  man  realizing  his  condition,  laid  whip 
to  his  two  big  fine  horses  and  was  well  under  way  with 
his  horses  at  a  long  gallop  when  Rainbolt  gained  the  high- 
way. Reinbolt  being  a  rather  small  man  held  his  seat 
with  difficulty,  while  the  mare  was  doing  her  best  to  over- 
take the  man  in  the  wagon.  Just  how  far  they  ran  before 
Rainbolt  came  back  can  not  now  be  known.  At  any  rate, 
to  make  a  long  story  short,  the  man  having  outrun  him, 
he  gave  up  the  chase.  The  writer  was  on  the  scene  a  short 
time  after  it  happened  but  will  not  vouch  for  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  story  as  told.  Of  course  the  Democrats 
laughed  at  Rainboldt  every  time  chance  came  their  way. 

The  county  ticket  of  1896  was  as  follows : 
Congressman — W.   T.   Zenor,  Democrat,   1,590;   R.   M. 
Tracewell,  Republican,  1,481.    Zenor 's  majority,  109. 

Judge— C.  W.  Cook,  Democrat,  1,457 ;  John  H.  Weath- 
ers, Republican,  1,612.     Weathers'  majority,  155. 


414         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Treasurer — E.  P.  Brown,  Democrat,  1,553;  D.  L.  Sea- 
ton,  Republican,  1,484.     Brown's  majority,  69. 

Recorder — J.  M.  Brown,  Democrat,  1,571;  W.  L.  Tem- 
ple, Republican,  1,447.     Brown's  majority,  124. 

Sheriff — George  Shultz,  Democrat,  1,441 ;  Walter  Bal- 
lard, Republican,  1,635.     Ballard's  majority,  221. 

Coroner — J.  W.  Carr,  Democrat,  1,541 ;  George  Rober- 
son,  Republican,  1,437.     Carr's  majority,  104. 

Surveyor — D.  J.  Paschal,  Democrat,  1,502;  J.  M.  John- 
son, Republican,  1,490.     Paschal 's  majority,  12. 

Assessor — James  Gilmore,  Democrat,  1,516;  Wm.  Scott, 
Republican,  1,495.     Gilmore 's  majority,  21. 

Commissioner  of  First  District — W.  M.  Scout,  Demo- 
crat, 1,588;  William  Lee,  Republican,  1,391.  Scout's  ma- 
jority, 197. 

Commissioner  of  Second  District — William  Landiss, 
Democrat,  1,586 ;  J.  M.  Meriwether,  Republican,  1,394. 
Landiss'  majority,  192. 

Weathers,  who  had  made  a  very  strong  race,  was  de- 
feated in  Harrison  County  by  a  very  narrow  margin  of 
votes. 

Bryan  received  1,655  and  McKinley  1,490  votes.  The 
people  elected  Ballard  sheriff  on  the  Republican  ticket, 
but  the  rest  of  the  ticket  was  Democratic. 

After  the  election  of  McKinley  in  1896  the  country  was 
soon  plunged  into  war  with  Spain.  The  records  are  such 
that  one  can  not  tell  just  how  many  boys  from  Crawford 
County  volunteered.  Sampson  Byrum,  Jerome  Pierson, 
Garrison  Bird,  Charles  Cook,  two  Megenity  brothers  of 
English  and  Charles  Austin  Ross,  son  of  W.  S.  Ross,  volun- 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  415 

teered  their  services.  Charles  Austin  Ross  was  killed  in 
the  Philippine  Islands. 

The  campaign  of  1898  began  with  a  warm  primary  fight 
in  the  spring.  The  Democrats  had  two  candidates  for 
county  clerk,  William  L.  Gregory  of  English  and  George 
W.  Cuzzort  of  Patoka  township.  Sam  McFall,  Alexander 
Perkins  and  James  Tucker  were  candidates  for  auditor. 
John  Gilliland  was  the  leading  candidate  for  sheriff.  The 
result  of  the  primary  was: 

Clerk,  William  L.  Gregory,  English ;  auditor,  S.  E.  Mc- 
Fall, Leavenworth;  sheriff,  John  Gilliland,  Leavenworth; 
treasurer,  E.  P.  Brown,  Eckerty;  coroner,  James  W.  Carr, 

;  commissioner,  James  P.  Culver,  Alton;  surveyor, 

Daniel  Paschal,  Marengo. 

The  Republicans  held  a  convention  and  placed  the  fol- 
lowing ticket  in  the  field :  Clerk,  Richard  Clark,  (died, 
W.  B.  Allen  filled  vacancy)  ;  auditor,  John  W.  Bird,  Ma- 
rengo; sheriff,  George  Ash;  coroner,  Henry  Bates,  Mill- 
town;  commissioner,  Willis  Harvey,  Alton;  surveyor,  E.  R. 
McKensie. 

The  campaign  waxed  warm,  money  was  spent  on  all 
sides  and  whiskey  flowed  freely.  The  result  of  the  elec- 
tion was  disastrous  to  the  Republicans.  Before  ten  o'clock 
that  night  the  incomplete  returns  indicated  a  landslide  for 
the  Democrats.    Below  are  the  figures : 

Congress — Zenor,  Democrat,  1,676;  Whitesides,  Repub- 
lican,  1,285.     Zenor 's  majority,   391. 

Prosecuting  Attorney— Fleshman,  Democrat,  1,547; 
Bonner,  Republican,  1,376;  Fleshman 's  majority,  171. 

Clerk— William  Gregory,  Democrat,  1,672;  William 
Allen,  Republican,  1,233.    Gregory's  majority,  439. 


416  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Auditor— S.  E.  McFall,  Democrat,  1,723;  J.  W.  Bird, 
Republican,  1,182.     McFall 's  majority,  531. 

Sheriff,  John  Gilliland,  Democrat,  1,617 ;  George  Ash, 
Republican,    1,339.      Gilliland 's   majority,   278. 

Coroner — J.  W.  Carr,  Democrat,  1,562;  Henry  Bates, 
Republican,  1,306.     Carr's  majority,  256. 

Commissioner — James  Culver,  Democrat,  1,586;  Willis 
Harvey,  Republican,  1,313.     Culver's  majority,  273. 

Surveyor — Dan  Paschal,  Democrat,  1,565 ;  E.  R.  Mc- 
Kensie,  Republican,  1,320.    Paschal 's  majority,  245. 

The  first  bank  in  Leavenworth  was  established  by  John 
S.  Whitten.  The  building  stood  on  Front  Street.  Later, 
Weathers  and  Willett  organized  a  private  bank  in  Leaven- 
worth. A  new  building  was  secured  at  the  corner  of  Court 
and  Nelson  Streets.  This  was  about  the  year  of  1892. 
Later,,  a  branch  bank  was  opened  at  Marengo  in  the  build- 
ing where  Doctor  Land  now  has  his  office.  There  was  also 
a  branch  bank  at  English. 

The  Leavenworth  bank  failed  in  1897.  The  cashier 
closed  the  doors  and  left.  The  writer  took  his  father's 
pension  check  to  the  bank  that  evening.  Mr.  Davis,  the 
cashier,  looked  at  it  for  a  minute  and  handed  it  back,  say- 
ing that  he  could  not  cash  the  check.  The  writer  left  much 
worried  about  the  check.  Later  he  learned  that  Davis 
had  no  funds  with  which  to  cash  the  check.  Willett,  who 
had  left  town,  was  severely  blamed  by  many  people  who 
had  their  savings  there.  Just  how  much  money  was  on 
deposit  one  can  not  now  say.  Trustee  Scott  of  Jennings 
township  lost  heavily,  for  he  had  all  the  township  money  in 
the  bank.  Willett  had  been  constructing  a  beautiful  modern 
residence  on  Court  Street,  near  the  court  house.   That  work 


THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  NINETIES  417 

was  now  closed.  Later  S.  D.  Alexander  bought  the  honse 
and  completed  it.  The  Alexanders  still  owned  it  in  1925. 
Later  Willett  returned  and  Mr.  Ruell  Arnold  was  ap- 
pointed to  settle  the  bank's  business.  He  was  able  to  collect 
and  pay  back  to  the  depositors  a  large  per  cent,  of  their 
money.  The  branch  banks  at  Marengo  and  English  also 
failed.  Later  business  people  organized  a  bank  at  English, 
with  John  Miller  as  cashier.  This  bank  was  finally  char- 
tered by  the  state.  It  is  known  as  the  State  Bank  of  Eng- 
lish to-day.  The  Leavenworth  State  Bank  was  organized 
after  a  few  years.  The  people  use  the  same  building  which 
Willett  and  Weathers  used. 


CHAPTER  XX 


MARENGO   AFTER   THE  WAR 


Big  Springs,  Springtown,  or  Marengo,  has  a  similar 
growth  as  English.  Before  the  railroad  went  through  the 
town  there  was  a  cluster  of  log  cabins,  one  or  two  stores,  a 
saloon,  meeting  house  or  two  and  a  graveyard.  In  this 
graveyard  lies  buried  a  Revolutionary  War  soldier  who 
was  named  Cooper.     He  was  from  Germany. 

The  good  people  of  Marengo,  with  the  assistance  of 
Professor  J.  M.  Johnson,  built  an  academy  in  old  town 
about  the  year  of  1869.  Then  Marengo  became  the  center 
of  education  for  southern  Indiana.  Many  students  from 
far  and  near  attended  the  Marengo  Academy.  Professor 
Johnson  did  a  great  work  there.  Soon  a  new  frame  school- 
house  was  built  just  north  and  east  of  the  Methodist 
church.  This  house  was  the  only  school  building  of  its  kind 
ever  erected  in  Marengo.  The  people  were  proud  of  it. 
In  it  Emmett  Taylor  and  Jesse  Breeden  taught  spring 
normals  after  Professor  Johnson  became  too  old  to  teach 
school. 

On  June  10,  1886,  men  became  interested  in  the  rock  at 
Marengo.  The  railroad  was  a  means  of  getting  the  stone 
away.  Joseph  Garrow  was  the  first  man  to  undertake  to 
open  the  quarry.  He  had  a  good  chance  to  sell  to  Wash 
DePauw  of  the  New  Albany  Glass  Works.     The  first  load 

418 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  419 

or  two  lie  let  his  men  mix  clinkers  with  the  rock.  When 
DePauw  saw  this  he  would  not  buy  any  more  crushed  rock 
from  Garrow. 

Then  Garrow  sawed  out  the  rock,  which  he  sold  where- 
ever  he  could  get  a  market.  One  day  in  November,  1886, 
the  apparatus  blew  up,  injuring  him  so  that  he  died.  Then 
his  two  sons,  Joseph  and  Milton  Garrow,  took  up  the  work. 
They  did  much  work  and  business  was  running  fairly  well 
until  a  blast  failed  to  go  off  one  day.  Later  it  exploded 
while  Milton  was  too  near  it  and  blew  him  over  a  bank  and 
another  man  over  a  boxcar  which  was  standing  near  the 
quarry. 

Other  men  took  shares  in  the  rock  quarry  and  business 
went  rapidly  on  with  various  degrees  of  success.  To-day 
one  can  get  some  idea  of  the  great  amount  of  rock  shipped 
away  by  the  hole  in  the  hill. 

A  new  flour  mill  was  built  over  in  what  is  now  Marengo 
and  the  manager  was  able  to  make  much  better  flour  than 
other  mills  were  making. 

The  United  Brethren,  Christian  and  Methodist  churches, 
and  the  church  over  in  old  town  give  ample  opportunities 
to  all  for  religious  worship. 

Back  in  the  nineties  Curtis  Weathers  started  a  paper 
in  Marengo  which  he  called  the  Marengo  Observer.  He 
was  the  son  of  James  H.  Weathers,  a  member  of  the  Repub- 
lican Central  Committee,  and  a  very  courteous  gentleman. 
This  paper  met  with  various  successes  on  different  occa- 
sions. Often  it  failed  but  some  good  man  would  begin  the 
paper  again.    At  present  the  paper  is  suspended. 

About  1892  the  people  of  Marengo  became  interested 
in  good  roads.    A  toll  turnpike  company  was  organized  to 


420  IIISTOKY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

help  the  Leavenworth  people  construct  the  pike  road,  but 
the  success  of  the  company  was  not  assured  and  the  under- 
taking failed  after  about  two  miles  of  the  road  was  built. 

Relative  to  the  telephone,  the  men  were  more  successful. 
Captain  William  Everdon  built  the  first  telephone  into 
Marengo  and  English  about  1894.  One  Sunday  morning, 
when  the  line  was  complete,  Everdon  and  Henry  Summers 
and  Mrs.  Ella  Murphy  were  the  first  ones  to  use  the  tele- 
phone line.  Willett  and  Weathers  were  financing  the 
undertaking,  while  Everdon  did  the  work. 

In  1891  the  first  fair  was  held  in  Marengo.  That  was 
a  great  boom  to  the  town.  The  sidewalks  at  that  time 
were  of  board  or  rock,  for  concrete  was  not  known  or  used 
then.  The  town  was  growing  steadily.  The  Indiana 
Gazetteer  for  1895  gives  these  men  and  their  vocations: 

Newspaper — Marengo  Observer. 

George  S.  Balthis — General  store,  which  was  established 
about  1865  in  Marengo.  He  was  in  business  there  until 
1923. 

C.  C.  Boyd — General  store. 
S.  Bryn — Carpenter. 
Millard  Byron — Blacksmith. 
Citizens  Branch  Bank. 
Dugan  Clark — Shingle  machine. 
Fromholtz — Clothing  store. 

Hedrick  &  Woods — Grocery  and  hardware. 

T.  S.  Heiston — Carpenter. 

W.  E.  Jenner — Dentist  and  justice  of  peace. 

D.  R.  Lambdin — Livery  stable. 
M.  J.  Martz — Harness. 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  421 

W.  IT.  Miley— Barber  shop. 

D.  8.  Miller — Saloon  keeper. 

Ella  Murphey — Millinery  store. 

U.  P.  Murphy— Hotel. 

L.  B.  Stewart — General  store. 

R.  D.  Stewart — General  store. 

S.  M.  Stewart — Sawmill  man. 

V.  A.  Stewart — Cabinet  maker. 

Stewart  &  James — Blacksmith. 

J.  T.  Taylor— Hotel  keeper. 

J.  W.  Tower — Justice  of  the  Peace. 

C.  N.  Weathers — Druggist. 

J.  M.  Weathers — Carpenter. 

W.  V.  Weathers — Feed  and  grain  store. 

Luke  Wood — Nursery  stock. 

The  situation  of  Marengo  is  one  to  commend  its  beauty. 
The  hills  have  a  charm  which  appeals  to  the  lovers  of  art. 
On  August  18,  1883,  a  few  boys,  while  after  a  rabbit,  made 
a  discovery  which  added  a  remarkable  charm  to  the  town. 
In  pursuit  of  the  rabbit  the  boys  chased  it  into  some  rocks. 
Not  to  be  baffled  in  their  determination  they  began  to  tear 
out  a  few  of  the  loose  rocks.  The  opening  grew  wider  and 
the  rocks  came  loose  easier.  To  their  great  surprise  the 
rabbit  den  grew  bigger  and  bigger  as  they  removed  the 
loose  rocks,  until  they  saw  that  they  were  in  the  mouth 
of  a  large  opening  in  the  ground.  The  boys  went  back  to 
the  town  and  told  what  they  had  discovered.  A  large 
crowd  of  men  and  boys  with  lanterns  and  strings  went  to 
the  opening  to  explore  it.  After  getting  a  few  rocks  out  of 
the  way  the  men  entered  the  opening  which  grew  larger 


422  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

and  larger  until  they  found  themselves  in  the  mouth  of  a 
wonderful  cave  which  was  named  the  Marengo  Cave.  The 
cave  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world.  One  can  go 
through  the  cave  and  come  out  in  about  two  hours.  The 
walking  is  not  so  muddy  and  slippery  as  in  other  caves. 
To-day  the  cave  is  visited  by  hundreds  of  men  and  women 
from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  cave  is  near  the  east  end 
of  the  cemetery  in  old  town.  The  new  town  is  built  about 
a  mile  south  and  west  near  the  railroad  station.  The 
author  cannot  say  whether  the  boys  ever  caught  their 
rabbit  or  not. 

Back  in  those  days  Marengo  had  two  things  which  made 
it  well  known — the  cave  and  Professor  J.  M.  Johnson  and 
his  academy. 

One  finds  the  following  announcement  in  the  Indiana 
School  Journal,  date  of  1879,  page  329:  "The  Marengo 
Normal  will  begin  July  21  and  continue  four  weeks.  J.  M. 
Johnson,  Miss  Frances  Temple  and  J.  W.  J.  Springston 
will  be  the  instructors." 

Below  is  a  statement  of  his  normals:  "In  1877  John- 
son taught  a  normal  for  four  weeks,  beginning  on  June 
24th.  Twenty  boys  and  sixteen  girls  were  present.  The 
tuition  was  one  dollar  per  week."  In  1878  and  1879  one 
finds  about  the  same  report. 

Professor  Johnson  was  a  great  help  to  many  poor  boys 
and  girls  who  were  working  hard  to  get  an  education. 
One  time,  after  he  was  elected  truant  officer,  while  out  on 
duty,  he  came  to  the  school  where  the  writer  was  teaching 
at  Magnolia.  He  became  interested  in  the  school  and 
stayed  about  all  day.  When  noon  came  the  writer  hap- 
pened to  think  of  Andrew  Batman,  who  was  a  very  gen- 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  423 

erous  man.  So  he  took  the  occasion  to  tell  Professor  John- 
son to  take  his  horse  down  there  and  tell  Mr.  Batman  to 
feed  him  and  give  Mr.  Johnson  a  good  warm  dinner  at 
the  author's  expense.  That  pleased  Mr.  Johnson  very 
much.  Mr.  Batman  was  very  much  pleased  to  have  Pro- 
fessor Johnson  call  at  his  home.  So  they  had  a  delight- 
ful visit,  but  Professor  Johnson  was  back  about  the  time 
the  bell  rang.  The  teacher  received  many  useful  sugges- 
tions from  him  that  day,  one  of  which  was  this:  "If  I 
had  but  five  minutes  given  me  to  solve  a  problem,  and  if  it 
was  life  or  death  with  me,  I  would  spend  four  minutes 
reading  the  problem.  Then  solve  it  in  the  other  minute." 
During  the  spring  of  1900,  on  May  23rd,  the  good 
people  of  Marengo  planned  a  surprise  on  Professor  J.  M. 
Johnson.  Arrangements  were  made  to  haul  over  lumber 
enough  with  riders  to  make  a  long  table  out  in  the  grove. 
The  people  furnished  baskets  of  dinner.  The  Marengo 
band,  which  was  one  of  the  best  Crawford  County  ever 
had,  furnished  the  music  for  the  occasion.  About  eleven 
o'clock  the  procession  formed  in  Marengo.  The  band  led 
the  way.  At  Professor  Johnson's  home  dinner  was  being 
served.  They  sat  around  the  table,  doubtless  never  dream- 
ing that  it  was  the  forty-sixth  anniversary  of  their  mar- 
riage. Their  frugal  meal  was  eaten  in  silence.  Suddenly 
the  professor  heard  the  band  playing  as  the  procession 
neared  his  home.  Arthur  Johnson,  who  was  boarding  with 
the  professor,  said  that  the  band  is  out.  He  knew  the 
plan,  but  did  not  tell  any  of  the  family.  The  band  came 
nearer  and  nearer.  Finally  Professor  Johnson  went  to 
the  door,  opened  it  and  said  :  "I  believe  they  are  coming 
here."     By  that  time  Coen  Balthis  had  turned  into  the 


424  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

walk  to  the  house,  while  Arthur  Johnson  had  opened  the 
back  door  so  that  the  procession  could  march  into  the 
house  and  out  at  the  back  door.  The  poor  old  professor 
came  staggering  to  the  door  and  stood  on  the  little  porch 
with  his  wife  beside  him.  As  the  procession  went  by,  he, 
realizing  what  the  day  meant,  began  to  cry,  and  the  crowd, 
which  was  a  large  one,  shook  hands  with  the  aged  couple  as 
each  one  went  by.  Meanwhile  the  tables  were  being  spread 
down  under  some  beautiful  shade  trees  near  the  house. 
The  band  played  some  music  until  the  dinner  was  ready. 
Then  everybody  enjoyed  a  good  meal.  All  went  away 
wishing  the  Professor  and  his  wife  many  more  happy 
anniversaries. 

The  Marengo  Academy  students  met  September  4,  1908, 
and  voted  to  erect  a  monument  to  Professor  Johnson. 
Alson  Roberts  of  English  furnished  the  monument  which 
he  bought  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts.  He  began  work  on 
August  11,  1909,  and  completed  the  work  on  August  27, 
1909.  That  day  a  large  crowd  of  people  met  to  witness 
the  unveiling.  Honorable  J.  R.  Duffin  and  John  H.  Weath- 
ers delivered  touching  orations.  Both  had  been  students 
and  friends  of  Professor  Johnson. 

A  canning  factory  was  built  at  Marengo  about  1899. 
The  factory  canned  peaches  at  times  and  then  tomatoes. 
The  plant  is  standing  down  the  railroad  at  the  east  end  of 
the  town.  The  canning  factory  opened  up  a  market  for 
the  tomato  growers,  many  of  whom  made  a  nice  sum  of 
money. 

The  high  school  at  Marengo  was  commissioned  in  1909 
by  Professor  Cooley  of  Evansville.  The  new  law  of  1907 
required  that  beginning  teachers  be  graduates.     By  hard 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  425 

work  Professor  Dunn,  with  the  assistance  of  such  workers 
as  J.  Benton  Pierson,  built  up  the  school  until  the  state 
granted  the  town  a  commission.  Much  credit  is  due  to 
S.  A.  Beals,  who  was  the  county  superintendent. 

On  April  28,  1910,  occurred  one  of  the  most  destructive 
fires  that  ever  visited  the  town.  The  whole  square  was 
destroyed,  including  Balthis'  store,  Doctor  Luckett's  office, 
Charles  D.  Summers',  Roscoe  Stewart's,  Mike  Fromholtz's 
stores  and  William  T.  Pierson 's  meat  market  and  res- 
taurant. One  can  not  estimate  the  cost  or  the  amount  of 
insurance  now  very  well.  Practically  all  of  the  men  re- 
built, making  the  town  a  much  better  looking  place  in 
which  to  live.    The  loss  was  about  $20,000. 

Several  years  after  the  fire,  Mr.  Rice  of  Louisville,  in 
conjunction  with  A.  B.  Fenn  of  Tell  City,  built  a  hub  and 
rim  factory  at  Marengo.  The  location  of  the  factory  was 
down  the  railroad  track  west  of  the  town.  John  Seig  was 
employed  for  a  time  as  manager  and  Benton  Pierson  was 
bookkeeper.  Later,  others  took  their  positions.  Many  men 
were  employed  at  the  hub  and  rim  factory  for  several 
years  until  all  the  timber  was  used  up.  Then  the  owners 
moved  away  to  other  towns. 

The  managers  of  the  fair  in  1905  advertised  that  they 
would  have  two  real  automobiles  at  the  fair.  There  was  a 
record-breaking  crowd.  Just  about  two  o  'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, to  the  great  joy  of  everyone,  two  automobiles  drove 
into  the  fair-grounds  and  circled  around  the  rack  track. 
A  mighty  cheer  rose  from  the  crowd  back  on  the  hillside. 
The  men  and  women  crowded  down  to  the  cars.  In  some 
way,  no  one  now  knows  how,  men  got  into  the  cars  and  the 
drivers  told  them  they  would  haul  them  around  the  track 


426         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

for  a  dime.  The  cars  were  filled  with  joy-riders  by  the 
time  the  chauffeurs  were  ready.  When  the  cars  came  back 
the  people  made  a  mad  rush  for  them,  and  away  they  went 
again  and  again.  Word  went  over  the  ground  that  the 
automobiles  had  come  and  the  drivers  were  hauling 
the  people  around  the  fair-ground  half-mile  race  track 
for  a  dime.  Boys  and  girls  left  the  "hot  dog"  stands,  ice 
cream  counters,  and  other  eating  places  and  rushed  down 
the  hill.  Men  who  were  selling  watermelons  and  other 
things  to  eat  were  terribly  disappointed  for  their  sales 
were  ruined  that  day.  Yet  the  people  enjoyed  the  sight  of 
the  cars,  and  those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  get  a 
ride  were  wild  with  delight.  So  these  two  men  were  the 
first  men  to  bring  cars  to  the  county.  They  were  from 
New  Albany. 

Agitation  for  a  new  school  house  was  started  about  1910 
and  kept  up  until  about  1914  when  a  handsome  new  brick 
building  was  constructed.  The  men  who  were  in  favor  of 
the  school  used  all  kinds  of  tactics  to  secure  the  consent  of 
certain  people  in  the  town  and  township.  The  school  cost 
about  $15,000. 

The  Jenner  garage,  which  was  built  about  1917,  was  a 
fine  addition  to  the  city.  The  structure  is  of  brick  with  a 
work  shop  below  and  a  storage  room  above.  Mr.  Jenner, 
who  built  the  garage,  has  a  large  business  in  automobiles 
and  is  one  of  the  best  business  men  in  the  town.  He  sells 
Ford  cars  and  parts. 

After  the  failure  of  Weathers'  and  Willetts'  bank  in 
Leavenworth  in  1897,  the  branch  bank  soon  fell,  too.  Many 
years  later  the  business  men  of  Marengo  organized  a 
private  bank   and   chose  William   Hawkins   cashier.     No 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  427 

one  needed  to  recommend  Hawkins  for  the  position.  He 
had  been  a  teacher  all  his  life  and  was  honest  and  well 
liked  by  all.  The  bank  was  a  great  help  to  the  people  of 
the   town   in   their   business   relations. 

For  many  years  the  people  of  Marengo  had  been  mak- 
ing progress  in  various  ways.  The  Masons,  Independent 
Order  of  Odd  Fellows  and  Red  Men  had  organized  lodges. 
The  churches  were  busy  with  people.  Then  came  a  de- 
mand for  a  motion  picture  hall.  So  several  men  who  were 
interested  built  the  Blue  Diamond  Theater,  just  across  the 
street  from  the  bank.  The  building  changed  hands  and  is 
now  managed  by  "Woody"  Jenner,  who  is  the  automobile 
man  of  the  county. 

One  of  the  last  factories  to  be  built  in  Marengo  was 
the  shirt  factory.  It  was  located  east  of  the  Jenner  garage 
on  the  Milltown  road.  When  running  with  a  full  force 
there  are  a  large  number  of  girls  hired.  The  building  was 
constructed  about  1922. 

The  year  1918  marked  the  death  of  Professor  John- 
son, about  whom  many  references  have  been  made  in  this 
account  of  Crawford  County. 

A  few  weeks  before  his  death  the  writer  met  him  as  he 
was  returning  home  from  the  town  to  his  house.  On 
inquiry  how  he  was  the  Professor  said  that  he  was  getting 
along  as  well  as  could  be  expected  for  a  "boy"  of  his  age. 
The  funeral  was  held  in  the  old  town  church.  Many  of  his 
former  students  were  present  and  several  delivered  ad- 
dresses, among  whom  was  John  H.  Weathers  of  New 
Albany. 

The  streets  of  Marengo  were  graded  up  well  and  plans 
made  to  build  walks  on  January  26,  1900. 


428  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

On  June  10,  1901,  W.  A.  Cook's  new  flour  mill  caught 
fire  and  burned  down.  The  owner's  loss  was  about  $3,000. 
Cook  made  a  very  high  grade  of  flour. 

On  Saturday,  February  11,  1912,  another  disastrous  fire 
visited  Marengo.  The  fire  was  discovered  in  the  Spencer 
Hotel  early  in  the  morning  and  the  guests  barely  escaped 
with  their  lives.  Several  escaped  by  the  windows.  W.  E. 
Gregory's  empty  store  room  burned,  too.  Uncle  Jake  Gott- 
fried, who  was  boarding  at  the  hotel,  almost  died  from 
suffocation.  F.  P.  Wood's  residence  also  burned.  W.  E. 
Gregory  began  a  new  hotel  which  he  called  the  New  Grand. 
It  was  completed  in  the  fall  of  1915  and  rented  to  John 
I.  Stroud,  who  moved  there  from  Leavenworth,  where  he 
grew  up.  Mr.  Stroud  was  in  business  there  for  several 
years. 

The  town  of  Marengo  was  probably  the  first  town  in 
the  county  to  have  a  veterinarian.  Doctor  Lancy  Conrad, 
who  had  just  completed  a  college  course  in  the  best  schools 
of  the  country,  moved  to  Marengo  May  24,  1921. 

The  leading  physicians  of  the  town  have  been  Doctor 
J.  E.  Fetzer,  Doctor  Patton,  Doctor  D.  F.  Davis,  Doctor 
Peter  Grant,  Doctor  Luckett,  Doctor  Jesse  Benz  and  Doc- 
tors Edward  and  George  Land. 

In  May,  1920,  occurred  the  death  of  Professor  Temple 
Dunn  at  his  home  in  Marengo.  He  was  born  in  Alton  in 
1846.  All  his  life  was  spent  in  service  to  his  fellowman 
and  his  country.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  and  of  the  Masonic  lodge,  under  whose 
auspices  he  was  buried  at  Alton.  He  was  superintendent 
of  the  Marengo  schools  for  several  years  until  he  resigned 
in  1913  to  accept  the  superintendency  of  the  Soldiers'  and 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  429 

Sailors 'Orphans'  Home  at  Knightstown,  Indiana.  After 
several  years'  service  there  he  resigned  and  came  back  to 
Marengo  to  live. 

During  the  year  1924  and  1925  a  Junior  Legislature 
was  held  at  Indianapolis.  William  E.  Jenner  of  Marengo 
was  elected  to  the  Junior  Senate.  When  the  Senate  con- 
vened at  Indianapolis  Jenner  was  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent members.  He  was  elected  president  of  the  Senate. 
Marengo  High  School  was  proud  of  her  student.  Jenner 's 
speech  on  the  child  labor  amendment  won  him  distinction 
among  the  boys  of  Indiana.  Jenner  is  the  son  of  L.  L. 
Jenner,  who  is  one  of  the  best  business  men  in  Crawford 
County. 

L.  L.  Jenner  visited  Ford's  automobile  factory  at  De- 
troit in  1926.  He  said  that  he  had  had  two  days  of  the 
most  interesting  education  of  his  life.  He  says  the  glass 
plant  was  capable  of  turning  out  12,000,000  square  feet 
each  year,  while  the  other  machine  shops  were  capable 
of  doing  a  great  amount  of  work. 

The  people  of  English  and  Marengo  were  surprised  to 
hear  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Blackford. 

The  theater  was  built  by  J.  A.  Blackford,  who  was 
superintendent  of  the  Rice-Fenn  hub  mill  at  Marengo  for 
some  time.  When  the  factory  was  sold  to  Turley  he  moved 
with  the  factory  to  English.  Later  he  moved  to  Paoli, 
where  he  committed  suicide  Thursday,  March  11th.  For 
some  time  he  had  been  in  poor  health.  His  people  had 
arranged  to  take  him  to  the  hospital  that  very  day,  but  he 
secured  a  shotgun  and  killed  himself.  Later  Jenner 
changed  the  name  of  the  motion  picture  theater  to  the 


430         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

"Rialto,"  under  which  name  the  new  theater  is  now  man- 


L.  L.  Jenner  sold  the  first  automobile  to  Willis  Pier- 
son  in  1910.  He  sold  the  first  manure  spreader  to  Jack 
Archibald,  who  also  bought  the  first  DeLaval  cream  sep- 
arator ever  sold  in  the  county. 

The  town  of  Marengo  has  always  been  a  patriotic  town. 
Many  boys  joined  the  Union  Army  from  there.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  was  written  home  by  a  Marengo  boy  in  the 
Civil  War.    By  special  request  it  was  furnished  the  writer. 

"Folly  Island,  South  Carolina. 

"August  9,  1863. 
"My  Dear  Mother: 

"Again  I  have  the  pleasure  of  addressing  you  a  few 
lines,  a  pleasure  that  is  duly  appreciated  and  for  which  I 
am  thankful. 

"We  arrived  here  last  Monday,  the  third,  after  a  de- 
lightful and  pleasant  trip  from  Portsmouth,  Virginia.  We 
embarked  on  the  steamer  Kennebec  at  Portsmouth  at  three 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  31st  and  arrived  at  Fortress 
Monroe  at  daylight,  where  we  stopped  to  take  on  water  and 
ice.  And  at  nine  o'clock  we  left  the  shores  of  the  Old 
Dominion  for  South  Carolina's  sunny  clime.  We  did  not 
get  entirely  out  of  sight  of  land  that  day.  We  could  see 
the  North  Carolina  coast  and  the  white  sand  banks  washed 
up  by  the  old  ocean's  wild  waves  far  to  the  west  in  the 
hazy  distance.  How  grand  and  sublime  was  the  scene! 
I  watched  the  restless  motion  of  the  ocean's  swelling  billows 
until  long  after  twilight  and  then  went  to  bed.  I  was  soon 
lost   in   slumber,   for  between   the   gentle   rocking   of   our 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  431 

boat  and  loss  of  sleep  the  night  before,  it  did  not  take  me 
long  to  go  to  sleep.  I  arose  early  the  next  morning  and 
looked  out  upon  the  ocean  and  I  confess  I  felt  a  little  queer 
when  I  could  not  see  land  in  any  direction.  But  I  soon 
became  use  to  it.  You  can  not  form  the  faintest  idea  of 
the  beauty  of  the  ocean  and  the  rolling  blue  waves. 

"We  had  remarkably  fine  weather  and  the  sea  was 
smooth,  though  the  swells  were  heavy.  The  waters  of  the 
ocean  are  never  calm  and  still  and  it  was  perfectly  de- 
lightful to  ride  the  waves.  At  times  we  would  be  right  on 
top  of  a  big  wave  and  a  huge  hollow  below  us.  It  would 
look  as  though  we  were  going  right  to  the  bottom  of  the 
briny  deep.  I  can  not  describe  the  loveliness  of  the  ocean 
for  I  can  not  find  words  to  express  its  beauty. 

"Our  company  has  been  on  picket  duty  ever  since  we 
arrived  here,  but  we  are  going  to  be  relieved  in  the  morn- 
ing. 

"This  island  does  not  fill  my  imagination  of  the  Sunny 
South.  It  is  covered  with  palmetto  and  pine  trees  and 
low,  scrubby  shrubbery  of  different  kinds.  There  is  a  good 
breeze  stirring  all  the  time  in  the  open,  but  in  the  woods 
it  is  hot  almost  to  suffocation.  The  water  is  most  miserable, 
but  what  makes  me  think  so  more  than  I  otherwise  would,  I 
have  been  slightly  ill  since  we  landed  here.  I  am  about 
well  now. 

"The  siege  of  Charleston  is  progressing  favorably,  and 
with  every  prospect  of  success.  You  needn't  have  any 
fears  of  any  more  desperate  charges  being  made  on  Fort 
Wagner  or  any  other  fort,  for  they  are  going  to  be  reduced 
by  regular  siege.  Heavy  batteries  are  being  planted  within 
300  yards  of  Ft.  Wagner  and  our  sharp-shooters  prevent 


432  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

them  from  working  their  guns  now.  When  General  Gil- 
more  gets  ready  to  open  again  on  Sumter,  Moultrie  and 
Wagner,  they  will  fall.  I  am  anxious  for  the  time  to  come. 
I  want  to  see  proud  and  haughty  Charleston  humbled.  It 
will  be  a  proud  day  for  the  nation  when  the  old  flag  waves 
again  over  Sumter's  walls  and  the  rebellious  citizens  of 
Charleston.  There  is  where  treason  and  secession  was  first 
nursed  and  there  is  where  it  must  fall. 

"Mother,  I  would  like  to  know  what  you  all  are  doing 
at  home  to-day.  Perhaps  you  have  visitors  and  I  guess,  a 
good  dinner.  Maybe  young  potatoes,  beans  and  roasting 
ears.  Wouldn't  I  like  to  be  there  tho,  to  see  for  myself!  I 
would  like  to  have  a  piece  of  your  good  lightbread  and 
butter  and  some  sweet  milk  or  a  glass  of  sparkling  water 
from  the  bottom  of  the  old  well.  How  often  I  have  thought 
of  that  since  I  have  to  dr^ink  this  detestable  water!  But 
never  mind,  this  is  August  and  it  will  soon  be  gone  and 
then  I  only  have  eight  more  months  to  stay.  How  short 
the  time  is  growing!  My  time  expires  the  22nd  of  next 
April.  I  guess  we  will  be  apt  to  stay  here  the  rest  of  our 
time.    If  Charleston  soon  falls  I  won't  care  if  we  do. 

"How  is  Ike?  I  haven't  had  but  one  letter  from  home 
since  June  and  I  'm  looking  for  some  in  the  next  mail.  We 
only  get  mail  here  every  ten  days.  Tell  Sam  he  owes  me 
a  letter. 

"Well,  Mother,  I  believe  I  have  written  all  the  news, 
so  will  close.  Much  love  to  all  and  be  assured  of  the  love 
and  devotion  of  your  obedient  son. 

"Thos.  S.  Hiestand." 


MILLTOWN  AFTER  THE  WAR  433 

The  town  of  Milltown  had  grown  by  1895  to  400  pop- 
ulation. At  that  time  the  leading  business  men  were; 
C.  W.  Rawlins,  postmaster;  Christian  Atz  and  brother 
were  blacksmiths ;  Doctor  George  W.  Baylor  was  a  leading 
physician ;  J.  M.  Beaty  was  a  leading  saloon  keeper ;  Beatty 
and  Funk  ran  a  sawmill;  the  Blue  River  Lime  Company 
was  doing  a  big  business ;  A.  W.  Funk  was  a  leading  law- 
yer; Ed.  Bush  was  a  carpenter;  John  E.  Funk  and  sons 
were  grain  dealers  and  also  sold  agricultural  implements; 
A.  E.  Gerrish  kept  a  restaurant;  Gibbs  and  Spencer  kept 
a  hardware  store;  F.  E.  Hancock  kept  a  general  store; 
William  Henriott  was  a  carpenter;  the  Holland  Hotel; 
C.  A.  Hostetter  was  interested  in  poultry;  Ed.  and  E.  F. 
Hostetter  ran  a  flour  mill ;  Joseph  Igert  was  the  shoemaker ; 
Indiana  Contract  Company  for  crushed  stone ;  Johnson  and 
Bye  ran  a  general  store ;  I.  L.  Lewis  was  the  barber ;  L.  G. 
Patrick  was  a  cooper;  I.  G.  Pennington  was  a  cooper; 
C.  W.  Rawlings  was  selling  cigars;  John  Rawlings  was 
selling  furniture ;  William  Solbrig  was  a  saloon  keeper ; 
A.  J.  Sonner  ran  a  grocery  store ;  Speed  and  Company  had 
a  lime  business;  A.  J.  Summers  was  a  carpenter;  J.  G. 
Summers  was  a  photographer ;  R.  Summers  was  a  milliner ; 
W.  S.  Swartz  was  interested  in  confectionery ;  C.  P.  Teatter 
kept  a  general  store;  Scott  M.  Walts  was  a  druggist. 

Probably  the  greatest  lime  and  rock  industry  in  the 
state  is  the  Speed  Company  at  Milltown.  The  company 
began  business  about  1885.  At  first  old  stone  kilns  were 
used  but  the  heat  soon  ruined  them.  The  crushers  were 
built  in  which  stone  was  crushed  for  markets  over  the 
state.  The  Eichels  Company  was  bought  after  a  few 
years.     Gas-producing  kilns  were  built  in  which  the  com- 


434         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

pany  produces  the  gas  used.  Two  new  steel  kilns,  each  of 
which  is  about  thirty  feet  in  diameter  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  high  were  built.  The  objection  to  the  old 
stone  kilns  was  that  the  enormous  heat  burned  up  the 
kilns.  A  plan  was  devised  whereby  water  might  circulate 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  heat  was  kept  from  melting  the 
steel  kilns.  Harry  Lemmons  has  the  credit  for  thinking 
out  the  device. 

The  ground  has  been  stripped  back  and  enormous  quan- 
tities of  rocks  blasted  out  at  a  time.  Tons  of  powder  and 
dynamite  mixed  have  been  put  into  the  holes.  The 
discharges  may  be  heard  many  miles  away.  The  terrible 
jar  often  ruins  cisterns  in  Milltown  and  knocks  the  win- 
dows out  of  the  houses  in  some  instances.  Yet  with  that 
tremendous  explosion  at  a  time  not  many  men  have  been 
killed.  A  premature  explosion  killed  W.  S.  Engleman, 
Neal  Miller  and  James  Miller  several  years  ago.  Besides 
the  enormous  lime  industry  the  company  now  has  a  large 
rock  crusher  which  will  take  rocks  as  large  as  ordinary 
barrels.  These  rocks  are  picked  up  by  steam  shovels  and 
dropped  into  the  crusher.  One  has  estimated  the  amount 
of  crushed  rock  turned  out  each  day  to  be  about  fifty  to 
sixty  car  loads,  each  car  holding  about  forty-five  yards  or 
loads  of  stone. 

Besides  the  lime  and  rock  business  a  plant  for  man- 
ufacturing hydrate  lime  that  manufactures  a  patent  plas- 
ter which  is  ready  to  use  by  mixing  it  with  sand  and  water. 
Harry  Lemmons  is  superintendent  of  this  great  work  and 
Robert  Proctor,  who  has  spent  many  years  laboring  for  the 
company,  is  assistant  superintendent. 

The    Speed   Lime    Company   has   been   very   generous. 


MILLTOWN  AFTER  THE  WAR  435 

The  old  Presbyterian  church  was  bought  about  1917  and 
remodeled  by  the  company  and  given  to  the  Milltown  peo- 
ple for  a  community  house.  The  people  appreciated  this 
gift. 

The  company  has  been  generous  on  all  occasions  and  it 
gave  aid  to  the  high  school  which  was  built  in  1925. 

Milltown  at  one  time  was  named  Leavenworth's  Mill, 
because  Seth  Marshall  Leavenworth  built  a  mill  there  in 
the  early  history  of  the  county.  A  dam  was  built  across 
the  river,  which  backed  the  water  up  sufficiently  to  run  the 
mill  by  water  power.  Many  years  after  Leavenworth  died, 
Captain  Edmund  Hostetter  and  Emanuel  Hostetter  built  a 
large  sawmill  on  the  site  of  the  early  mill.  Later  the  saw- 
mill was  sold  and  Ed.  Bennett,  Fred  Bye,  Jim  Jackson, 
W.  S.  Daniels  and  Shelby  Ross  started  a  flour  mill,  which 
later  was  bought  by  Ollie  Boldt,  Henry  Boldt  and  David 
Stroud,  who  now  own  the  mill. 

Nolan  Atz,  son  of  Christian  Atz,  deserves  mention  here. 
He  attended  the  University  of  Louisville  for  some  time. 
Then  he  started  a  chicken  hatchery  about  four  years  ago 
in  which  150,000  eggs  are  hatched  at  a  time.  This  is  prob- 
ably one  of  the  largest  chicken  hatcheries  in  southern  Indi- 
ana. 

The  fathers  and  sons  banquet,  which  was  given  in  the 
Community  house  at  Milltown  March  17,  1922,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Woman's  Community  Club  of  Milltown, 
was  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  affairs  ever  given  in  Mill- 
town.  There  were  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
fathers  and  sons  present,  each  one  of  whom  enjoyed  the 
splendid  affair  which  they  will  remember  as  one  of  the 
most  enjoyable  occasions  of  their  lives.     The  tables  were 


436  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

decorated  with  green  and  white.  The  music  for  the  occa- 
sion was  furnished  by  Dryer's  Orchestra  of  six  pieces 
from  New  Albany.  Two  piano  solos  were  also  given  by 
Mrs.  A.  N.  Bobbitt  of  English.  Addresses  were  delivered 
by  Doctor  John  McMillian  of  Louisville,  John  Mallon  of 
Louisville,  Kenneth  Bolclt  of  Milltown,  while  E.  R.  Gentry 
of  Speeds  acted  as  toast  master.  Much  praise  is  due  these 
fine  women  of  Milltown  for  the  success  of  the  banquet. 

The  Republicans  of  Crawford  County  held  a  district 
convention  at  Milltown  on  June  30,  1900,  and  nominated 
James  E.  Stewart  for  prosecutor.  The  Airline  Republican 
Club  met  at  Milltown,  too,  on  August  16.  The  English  and 
Marengo  bands  furnished  the  music  for  the  occasion.  The 
special  train  carried  eleven  coaches  filled  with  Republicans. 
Jerry  L.  Suddarth  of  English  delivered  the  oration  of  the 
day. 

On  September  1,  1900,  Doctor  Charles  Ross  entered  the 
United  States  service  as  an  army  doctor.  He  was  the  son 
of  W.  S.  Ross  of  Milltown  and  had  married  Miss  Edith 
Conn  of  Leavenworth.  On  Friday,  February  15,  1901, 
word  came  that  he  was  shot  from  ambush  in  the  Philippine 
Islands.  Nothing  more  was  heard  about  the  affair  until 
Mrs.  Edith  Ross  received  a  letter  on  April  12,  1901,  from 
E.  J.  Williams,  First  Lieutenant  Fifth  United  States  In- 
fantry Commanding  Post.  In  this  letter  he  gave  the 
details  of  the  battle  of  Batiatis  on  February  2,  1901,  in 
which  Doctor  Ross  was  shot  through  the  neck  about  one 
o'clock  in  the  day.  He  died  in  about  two  minutes.  The 
remains  were  brought  back  to  the  United  States  and 
buried  at  Leavenworth  in  1902. 

July  22,  1904,  Constance  Williams  met  with  a  terrible 


.MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  437 

accident  while  running  the  elevator  buckets  at  the  Milltown 
quarry.  He  was  cut  under  the  chin  by  one  of  the  buckets 
and  his  head  dragged  to  the  rock  pit.  Friends  rushed  to 
his  assistance  and  dragged  his  body  away.  Williams  was 
a  descendant  of  Addison  Williams,  who  mapped  out  the 
town  of  Magnolia,  but  had  for  many  years  made  his  home 
with  M.  C.  Froman,  near  Pilot  Knob. 

August  Atz  was  found  dead  Monday,  June  9,  1901, 
out  where  he  had  gone  to  cut  some  grass  for  the  calves 
which  he  had  bought  recently.  He  came  from  Germany 
and  located  at  Milltown.  He  was  one  of  the  best  citizens 
of  Milltown. 

A  very  serious  accident  occurred  at  Milltown  on  June 
16,  1901.  Steven  Reichert,  who  was  drilling  a  hole  in  the 
quarry,  had  both  hands  terribly  mangled  so  that  it  became 
necessary  to  have  his  hands  amputated.  Doctors  McNemer, 
Happer,  Rhoades  and  Baylor  assisted  in  the  operation. 

On  September  2,  1901,  William  Mills  was  severely  cut 
while  sleeping  in  bed  at  the  Fitzpatrick  Hotel.  Doctor 
Morton,  who  was  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  slipped 
into  the  room  and  slashed  him  about  the  head  and  thighs. 
Later  Morton  learned  that  Mills  was  not  the  man  he 
wanted,  but  in  the  dark  he  slashed  the  wrong  man. 

The  people  of  Milltown  built  concrete  walks  during  the 
year  of  1905.  The  basement  of  the  Methodist  church  was 
dug  out  till  it  was  fifteen  feet  by  thirty  feet,  which  was 
much  needed.  The  school  board  painted  the  schoolhouse 
and  papered  the  walls  that  summer. 

William  House  of  Marengo  and  William  Beaty  of  North 
Marengo  came  to  Milltown  July  2,  1905.  While  there  they 
engaged   in   a   fight.      On   their   return   to    Marengo   that 


438  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

evening  House  became  seriously  sick.  Doctor  Grant  was 
called.  He  found  House  with  his  right  arm  paralyzed. 
He  grew  worse  till  he  died  at  four  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing.   The  case  seemed  to  baffle  the  doctors. 

The  people  of  Milltown  were  thrown  into  excitement 
on  December  10,  1905,  when  they  heard  that  Edmond 
Walts  had  committed  suicide  in  the  woodshed  of  Scott 
Walts.  He  had  been  demented  for  some  time,  but  they 
had  kept  a  watch  over  him  fairly  well  until  one  day  he 
took  a  revolver  and  climbed  into  the  woodshed  and  shot 
himself.  Later  he  was  found  by  the  blood  which  had 
dripped  down  from  the  loft. 

The  people  of  Milltown  have  always  been  interested  in 
good  schools.  While  Ed.  Funk  was  superintendent  in  1916 
the  state  commissioned  the  high  school. 

David  J.  Murr  started  to  publish  a  newspaper  at  Mill- 
town  during  the  spring  of  1907.  The  paper  was  named  the 
Milltown  Record.  Murr  had  worked  on  the  Paoli  paper 
a  while  and  was  well  prepared  to  do  the  work  but  the  paper 
was  not  a  success. 

In  the  summer  of  1907  Sheriff  Hanger  raided  a  blind 
tiger  at  Milltown  which  was  run  by  Buck  Shaffer.  Hanger 
found  a  barrel  of  booze.  Shaffer  escaped  but  "Micky" 
McDonald  was  arrested  and  fined  fifty  dollars. 

W.  S.  Ross,  who  had  been  sick  for  a  long  time,  died  at 
his  home  in  Milltown  Saturday  night,  February  15,  1908. 
Mr.  Ross  had  been  elected  clerk  two  terms  in  Crawford 
County.  He  was  buried  by  the  Masons  on  the  next  Tues- 
day. In  politics  Ross  was  a  Democrat.  After  the  death 
of  his  first  wife  he  married  a  daughter  of  Albert  Conn  of 
Leavenworth.     To  this  union  was  born  one  son,  William 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  439 

S.  Ross,  Jr..  who  furnished  the  author  the  account  of  his 
experience  in  the  World  War.  He  was  one  of  the  best 
students  in  Crawford  County.  During  his  school  days  he 
never  missed  a  day  in  twelve;  years. 

John  Pankey,  who  was  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  known 
men  in  Crawford  County,  died  at  Milltown  on  August  21, 
1915.  lie  was  elected  sheriff  of  Crawford  County  two 
terms,  from  1872  to  1876.  In  1882  he  was  elected  treas- 
urer of  the  county  for  two  terms.  That  morning  in  August 
he  was  seen  walking  along  the  railroad  track  carrying  a 
traveling  bag.  When  he  reached  the  center  of  the  railroad 
bridge  over  Big  Blue  River,  he  was  seen  to  fall  or  jump 
into  the  river  and  sink.  This  happened  about  ten  o'clock 
on  the  above  date.  Search  was  made  for  him  but  the  body 
was  not  found  till  the  next  Thursday  when  William  Borer 
and  Mr.  Bline  located  the  corpse  in  a  bunch  of  drift  near 
Ollie  Boldt's  farm,  several  miles  south  of  Milltown. 
Pankey  was  eighty-five  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  Methodist  people  of  Milltown  built  a  new  church 
during  1923.  This  church  is  one  of  the  best  in  southern 
Indiana.  Much  praise  is  due  the  good  Christian  people 
for  the  support  they  gave  their  pastor. 

The  schools  of  Milltown  for  some  time  were  crowded 
so  that  agitation  for  a  new  high  school  arose.  Much  credit 
is  due  Superintendent  Ferguson  with  his  school  board  and 
Trustee  Vance  for  the  help  they  gave  in  the  matter. 

A  site  for  the  new  building  was  selected  some  distance 
out  on  the  rock  road  which  leads  to  English.  The  corner- 
stone was  laid  in  June,  1923,  and  by  Christmas  of  that 
year  the  school  was  being  taught  in  the  new  building.  One 
of  the  men  who  worked  so  hard  to  secure  the  new  school 


440  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

building  was  Superintendent  J.  O.  Ferguson.  The  school 
board  was  composed  of  Harry  Lemmons,  Luther  Flanni- 
gan  and  Martin  Lynch,  while  Trustee  Vance  assisted  mate- 
rially in  securing  the  school.  Speed  and  Company  have 
been  generous  to  donate  to  the  school. 

The  first  schoolhouse  ever  built  in  the  town  stood  near 
where  the  Home  Bakery  stands.  It  was  a  one-room  build- 
ing. Late  in  the  nineteenth  century  a  new  addition  was 
built  to  thq  old  house.  By  1900  it  became  necessary  to 
build  a  new  house,  which  was  a  four-room  structure  on  the 
hill.    In  1912  an  addition  was  built  to  the  house. 

That  year  steps  were  taken  to  organize  a  four-year  high 
school  course.  By  1916,  when  Mr.  Funk  was  superintend- 
ent, the  school  received  a  commission  which  it  has  kept. 

The  school  board  and  the  trustee  agreed  in  1919  to 
erect  a  new  joint  high  school.  Much  opposition  arose  from 
various  quarters  and  many  of  the  school  men  were  dis- 
couraged. The  rooms  were  so  crowded  that  the  Community 
House  was  used  for  school  purposes.  Chester  Boss  spent 
one  winter  in  the  Community  House  trying  to  teach.  By 
1923  the  difficulties  were  out  of  the  way  and  a  beautiful 
new  house  was  built.  The  house  cost  about  $40,000.  It 
will  need  about  $10,000  more  to  complete  it. 

The  house  is  55  x  105.  It  has  a  beautiful  recitation 
hall  which  is  36  x  55.  There  are  twenty-four  rooms  in  all. 
In  paying  for  the  school  the  town  pays  two-thirds  and  the 
township  pays  one-third  of  the  expense  and  maintaining 
the  school;  both  corporations  pay  according  to  the  enroll- 
ment. 

Milltown  can  boast  of  being  the  only  town  in  the  county 
which  has  a  National  Bank.     The  bank  was  organized  in 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  441 

April,  1907.  It  is  a  member  of  the  Federal  Reserve  bank- 
ing system.  Ralph  Jackson,  who  is  the  cashier,  is  a  success- 
ful business  man. 

The  Milltown  schools  under  the  leadership  of  J.  0. 
Ferguson  have  made  a  wonderful  advancement.  During 
the  year  of  1925-1926  the  school  published  an  annual  called 
the  Millwheel.  The  staff  of  editors  were:  Effie  Boldt, 
Violet  Sieg,  Madge  Kirsch,  Irene  Swarens,  Stanley  Proc- 
tor, Fred  Ferguson,  Fern  Satterfield,  Floy  Benz,  Kathleen 
Boldt  and  Pauline  Carroll. 

William  L.  Lee  began  a  new  garage  in  Milltown  in  1917. 
The  building  was  thirty-four  feet  by  sixty-four  feet  and 
cost  about  $4,000.  Mr.  Lee  lived  on  Pleasant  Ridge  for  a 
number  of  years  before  he  located  at  Milltown.  He  was  a 
candidate  for  sheriff  on  the  Republican  ticket  in  1922,  but 
was  defeated  in  the  primary.  Lee  has  made  good  at  Mill 
town. 

The  Milltown  basketball  team  of  1925  and  1926  rep- 
resented Crawford  County  Saturday  night  in  the  sectional 
tournament  at  Tell  City,  Despite  the  fine  team  work  ex- 
hibited by  the  Bristow  boys,  Milltown  held  them  down  to 
a  score  of  26  to  20.  There  were  fourteen  teams  at  the 
tournament,  which  was  held  at  Tell  City  March  6th.  These 
boys  were  on  the  team:  Stanley  Proctor,  Kedric  Harvey, 
Jesse  Heishman,  Cleo  Deweese,  Paul  Stephenson,  Fred 
Ferguson,  Norman  Murr,  Charles  Deweese,  and  Mr.  Young 
was  coach. 

OTHER   TOWNS   OF   THE   COUNTY 

After  the  railroad  went  through  Crawford  County, 
other  little  towns  grew  up  along  the  way.     Taswell  is  lo- 


442         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

cated  west  of  English  about  six  miles.  There  are  probably 
one  hundred  and  fifty  people  in  the  town.  The  town  has  a 
Christian  church,  a  Methodist  pastor,  a  very  good  school 
building,  and  several  stores.  In  1882  one  finds  that  John 
L.  Mathers  was  given  a  license  to  sell  liquor  for  one  year 
in  Taswell.  Later  Welk  Huff  obtained  a  license  on  Sep- 
tember 5,  1883,  and  ran  a  saloon  there  until  the  fall  of 
1885  when  he  moved  to  Marengo.  Henry  Goldman  also  was 
given  a  license  on  September  4,  1884,  to  sell  liquor  in  Tas- 
well. 

Back  in  the  vicinity  of  Taswell  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle  had  a  castle  or  lodge.  Men  say  that  the 
members  used  to  meet  in  a  cave  near  Taswell  and  other 
places  nearby.  At  one  of  their  meetings  a  few  boys,  who 
were  out  hunting,  came  upon  them  without  being  seen, 
and  just  for  mischief  rolled  several  rocks  down  the  steep 
hill  where  the  members  of  the  Golden  Circle  were  in  a 
secret  session.  Thinking  that  the  Union  soldiers  were 
upon  them,  the  company  vanished  from  view  like  a  magic 
scene  of  some  kind.  Before  they  had  run  a  mile  they  saw 
that  no  one  was  after  them  and  then  their  hatred  toward 
Wood  Cummins  and  Hall  Golden  burned  hotter  than  ever. 

Farther  west  from  Taswell  about  four  miles  is  the  little 
town  of  Eckerty.  For  a  long  time  it  was  named  Boston, 
but  the  name  of  Eckerty  was  finally  chosen  in  honor  of  the 
Eckerty 's  who  live  there. 

The  leading  merchants  who  have  been  in  business  there 
for  some  time  are  Michael  G.  Real  and  Porter  Eckerty. 
The  town  has  two  churches,  a  postoffice,  flouring  mill,  and 
other  stores.  For  a  long  time  it  was  a  shipping  point  for 
lumber  and  ties  and  other  products. 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  443 

In  those  early  days  the  wealth  of  the  people  was  in  the 
fine  grade  of  white  oak  timber  of  the  country. 

Farther  west  is  Riceville,  which  was  named  after  Mr. 
Rice.    It  has  a  few  houses  and  one  or  two  stores. 

North  of  Eckerty  about  two  miles  and  west  is  the  little 
town  of  Wickliffe.  There  is  a  store,  school,  and  a  few 
houses  here.    It  is  off  of  the  railroad  about  three  miles. 

South  of  Taswell  about  two  miles  is  the  little  town  of 
Mifflin.  Benham,  near  here,  in  the  early  days,  made  much 
salt.  One  salt  well  is  still  running  not  far  from  Mr.  Senn  's 
store.  There  is  a  schoolhouse,  a  store,  and  a  few  houses 
here.  The  town  is  on  Otter  Creek.  In  recent  years  coal 
has  been  mined  near  here. 

South  of  Mifflin  several  miles  is  the  little  town  of  West 
Fork.  This  town  was  on  the  old  Princeton  Trail.  There 
is  a  school,  a  store  and  a  few  houses.  Much  fine  timber 
grew  in  this  part  of  the  county.  The  coming  of  the  state 
roads  will  be  a  great  help  when  they  are  complete.  State 
road  No.  16  will  pass  through  West  Fork  on  the  way  to 
Tell  City. 

GRANTSBURG 

The  town  of  Grantsburg  was  laid  out  about  the  close 
of  the  Civil  War.  The  town  was  named  after  the  Grants 
and  General  Grant. 

An  effort  was  made  by  the  people  of  the  north  and 
west  parts  of  the  county  to  locate  the  county  seat  here  in 
the  eighties,  but  the  effort  failed. 

There  are  about  two  hundred  people  living  in  the  town, 
which  contains  one  or  two  general  stores,  school,  church 


444         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

and  other  buildings.     To-day  the  town  is  a  very  busy  little 
country  hamlet. 

FREDONIA   SINCE    THE   WAR 

When  the  seat  of  justice  was  moved  from  Fredonia  to 
Leavenworth  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1843, 
Fredonia  lost  much  of  its  prestige  and  hope  of  future 
growth.  The  jail  was  soon  gone,  but  the  court  house  stands 
after  one  hundred  years  looking  back  across  the  century. 
The  huge  locust  trees  still  remind  one  of  the  days  gone  by. 

Allen  D.  Thorn,  who  had  been  a  prominent  figure  for 
many  years,  died  in  January,  1862.  There  was  a  deep 
snow  on  the  ground  and  men  hitched  to  a  log  and  dragged 
it  up  and  down  the  streets  to  break  the  snow  drifts  so  that 
men  could  attend  the  funeral.  John  E.  McFall,  who  lived 
in  Fredonia  then,  gave  the  information. 

For  many  years  William  H.  Conrad  was  one  of  the 
leading  business  men  in  Fredonia.  He  moved  to  Kansas 
many  years  after  the  war,  where  he  died. 

The  town  grew  some.  At  the  close  of  1895  one  finds 
the  following  people  in  business  there : 

Sam  Horton — Postmaster. 

F.  E.  Allen — Barber. 

F.  M.  Allen — General  store. 

A.  R.  Bullock — Painter. 

T.  R.  Bullock — Carpenter. 

Wm.  Ghanley — Grindstone  maker. 

Dan  Cunnings — Blacksmith. 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  415 

C.  F.  Dantic — Doctor.  (Doctor  Dantic  lived  till  the 
spring  of  1923.  The  Masons  went  to  Fredonia  and  gave 
him  a  Masonic  funeral.) 

Henry  Dean — Shoemaker. 

John  Enlow — Wagon  maker. 

Robert  Everdon — Cooper. 

William  Laber — Justice  of  the  peace. 

H.  Myers  and  J.  Myers — Feed  and  sawmill. 

J.  P.  Rainforth — Hoop  and  stave  manufacturer. 

Elias  Romine — Livestock  dealer. 

Lafayette  Stephens — Cooper. 

Fredonia  that  year  had  about  one  hundred  and  seventy 
people.  That  was  the  maximum  of  its  glory.  The  one- 
room  school  was  crowded  with  about  sixty  pupils  of  all 
ages,  from  twenty  years  downward.  Percy  Allen,  who  was 
one  of  the  leading  teachers  of  the  county,  was  their  pop- 
ular teacher. 

Many  years  later  the  Methodist  people  bought  the  old 
court  house  and  remodeled  it  for  church  purposes.  The 
point  was  in  the  Leavenworth  charge,  whose  pastor  came 
down  and  preached  for  the  people  there. 

The  leading  business  men  of  the  town  to-day  (1925) 
are  Percy  Allen,  Herschell  Rainforth  and  Joseph  Rain- 
forth.  They  are  managers  of  the  leading  stores.  Percy 
Allen  is  postmaster. 

While  John  Springston  was  county  superintendent  he 
held  his  office  there  many  years  till  he  resigned  in  1881. 

To-day  Fredonia  has  about  fifty  people,  three  stores, 
a  schoolhouse,  with  about  fifteen  people  to  attend,  while 
scenes  on  all  sides  remind  one  of  the  beauty  of  the  site  and 


446         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  faded  hope  of  the'  town.  On  the  eighteenth  day  of 
October,  1921,  County  Superintendent  Pleasant,  in  com- 
pany with  Benjamin  Bnrris,  state  superintendent,  brought 
the  Governor,  Warren  T.  McCray,  there  to  visit  the 
schools.  Mrs.  Joseph  Rainforth's  daughter  gave  the  Gov- 
ernor a  beautiful  rose.  He  was  much  pleased  with  the 
beauty  of  the  location,  but  lamented  the  fact  that  the 
school  was  in  such  a  poor  condition.  At  the  time  one  from 
the  group  of  visitors  pointed  out  a  shed  which  was  sided 
up  out  of  pure  yellow  poplar  lumber.  After  cutting  the 
board  with  his  knife  Benjamin  J.  Burris  saw  that  the 
lumber  was  poplar.  Then  he  was  informed  that  poplar 
was  very  common  in  the  early  days  of  the  county. 

In  1923  a  new  rock  road  running  from  the  Peabody 
crossroads  to  Fredonia,  was  built  by  Samuel  R.  Bird.  Mr. 
Bird  being  a  good  reliable  man,  constructed  the  road  well. 
So  Fredonia  is  now  on  a  rock  road  and  can  be  reached  from 
Marengo  easily.  Many  places  of  interest  may  be  seen 
there,  one  of  which  is  "Thorn's  old  well." 

LEAVENWORTH  AFTER  THE  WAR 

A  general  view  of  Leavenworth  after  the  Civil  War  will 
now  be  made.  The  following  is  the  list  of  business  men 
who  were  in  Leavenworth  in  1866 : 

Attorneys  or  lawyers — Horatio  Woodbury,  Nicholas 
Peckinpaugh  and  J.  J.  McAllister. 

Auctioneer — M.  A.  Tucker. 

Barber — E.  Lyons. 

Boots— Asa  Kendall,  P.  "Hense"  Odell,  C.  Kehrer. 

Blacksmith — David  Smith,  R.  Sauerheber. 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  447 

Cooper — R.  Whitten,  Mansfield  Company. 

Confectionery — James  Fleming. 

Carpenters — W.  W.  Conrad  &  Company,  Wm.  Scott, 
Beers  &  Beers. 

Cabinet  makers — W.  W.  Conrad  and  Wm.  Scott. 

Druggists — John  E.  Peckinpaugh,  Henry  Jenkins. 

Dress  and  cloak  makers — Nancy  Marsh  and  Maggie 
Breeden. 

Express  Company — William  A.  Jenkins. 

Milling — Michael  Dillman. 

General  stores — Sands  and  Woodbury,  Lyon  and 
Whitten,  Henry  Jenkins,  J.  B.  Robinson  and  Mansfield 
and  Company. 

Hotels — R.  D.  Tucker  and  the  Overbacker  House,  run 
by  G.  Humphrey. 

Jeweler — J.  P.  Steele. 

Merchant  tailor — John  Benz. 

Milliner — Mrs.  Nancy  Marsh. 

Painters — 0.  E.  Smith,  Wm.  Peet,  also  paper  hanger. 

Doctors — E.  Hawn,  J.  S.  B.  Kelso,  J.  R.  Collins  and 
Paul  Ray. 

Saloons — James  Riley,  William  Peet,  Joab  Wilbur. 

Saddles  and  harness — W.  M.  Ellsworth. 

Stoves— M.  M.  Kendall. 

Wharf — George   Humphrey. 

Wagons — Joseph  Webster,  Charles  Price  and  E.  M. 
Beers. 

At  that  time  Leavenworth  was  the  shipping  point  for 
much  of  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  It  was  still  the 
best  business  town  in  southern  Indiana. 

On  an  old  squire's  docket  one  finds  this  report,  which 


448  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

happened  many  years  before  the  Civil  War :  On  October 
1,  1842,  the  President  of  the  Leavenworth  Savings  Com- 
pany, with  the  directors,  sued  James  Harrison  and  William 
F.  Williams  for  $27.60.  On  October  11,  1842,  the  court 
gave  them  judgment  and  Robert  Whitten  levied  two  stacks 
of  hay,  one  cow,  four  hundred  feet  of  lumber,  one  plow  and 
one  hoe.  He  offered  the  things  for  sale  on  October  26, 
1842,  but  no  one  would  bid  on  them.  After  a  few  days  the 
people  paid  the  bill  and  the  matter  was  settled. 

On  September  4,  1873,  the  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners ordered  the  town  of  Leavenworth  incorporated. 
The  majority  of  the  people  had,  at  an  election,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1873,  voted  for  incorporation.  The  election  was  held 
on  September  22,  1873.  The  board  met  at  nine  o'clock 
a.  m.  and  elected  David  A.  Breeden,  William  F.  Clark  and 
Thomas  Marsh  inspectors.  They  selected  one  of  their 
number  clerk  and  held  the  election  in  a  lawful  way.  After 
the  votes  were  canvassed  it  appeared  that  112  votes  were 
cast,  of  which  sixty-four  were  for  incorporating  and  forty- 
eight  were  against  incorporation.  On  September  3,  1875, 
the  town  board  of  Leavenworth  filed  a  petition  with  the 
board  of  commissioners,  praying  that  the  corporation 
boundary  of  Leavenworth  be  extended  to  include  these 
boundaries.  Commencing  at  the  north  side  of  the  Corydon 
road  a  a  point  parallel  with  Wood  Street,  thence  north 
35°  east  six  rods;  north  14% °  east  seventy  rods,  to  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  cemetery,  thence  north  75°,  west 
five  rods  to  the  southeast  corner  of  William  L.  Temple's 
[land.  Thence  north  4^2  °  to  one-half  degree  west  along 
road  at  a  point  parallel  with  Wood  Street,  thence  north 
59°  west  to  Paoli  road  thirty-six.     Thence  north  43°  east 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  449 

eight  rods  to  center  of  Paoli  road.  Thence  north  66°  west 
121/2  rods;  thence  north  78°  west  fifteen  rods,  south  81° 
west  38  rods,  thence  north  81°  east  twenty-eight  rods, 
thence  south  30  rods;  thence  south  36°  west  eighteen  rods 
to  the  original  plat  of  Leavenworth.  The  board  ordered 
that  tract  joined  to  Leavenworth  on  September  3,  1875. 

On  October  2,  1876,  J.  S.  B.  Kelso  reported  that  George 
A.  Doolittle  had  a  shortage  in  the  common  school  revenue 
of  the  town  of  Leavenworth  for  a  sum  of  $116.19  and 
$67.91  in  the  special  school  funds.  George  Doolittle,  who 
had  died,  was  trustee  of  the  town  of  Leavenworth.  The 
board  ordered  Kelso  to  make  proceedings  to  collect  the 
above  sum  from  his  estate. 

At  the  March  meeting  of  the  board  in  1878  Frank 
Campbell  made  application  for  a  license  to  sell  liquor  in  a 
room  known  as  Mary  Sharp's  property  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  lot  129  on  Nelson  street  in  which  Tracewell's  had 
their  law  office.  He  filed  a  bond  with  the  board,  but  E.  M. 
Tracewell  filed  a  remonstrance  against  him  on  the  ground 
that  he  is  not  a  fit  person  to  fill  such  a  position  since  he 
had  violated  the  liquor  law  before.  At  the  same  time 
Colonel  D.  L.  Gibbs  made  a  motion  to  have  the  remon- 
strance set  aside.  After  listening  to  the  argument  on  both 
sides  the  board  decided  this:  The  remonstrance  of  Jen- 
nings township  versus  Frank  Campbell.  The  commission- 
ers ordered  the  clerk  to  summon  Peter  Oberbacker,  Tor- 
rence  Connor,  Alex  Byerly,  Joseph  Cooper,  Lee  Gilmore, 
Joseph  Schionharst,  Frank  Campbell,  John  Benz,  Ben  F. 
Allen,  Walter  Morgan,  Putman  McCullum,  R.  F.  Clark, 
John  Clark,  Sam  Scott,  Merrill  Breeden,  W.  L.  Temple, 
Charles  Ellsworth  and  James  Mansfield.     The  matter  was 


450  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

argued  thoroughly,  but  Frank  Campbell  asked  permission 
to  withdraw  the  application,  which  was  granted  him.  Two 
days  later  he  appeared  and  filed  another  application 
which  was  about  the  same  as  the  old  one  but  had  a 
few  corrections  made.  The  board  being  fully  advised  in 
the  matter  decided  that  the  application  ought  not  be 
granted  since  during  the  previous  year  E.  M.  Tracewell 
had  filed  a  petition  containing  forty-four  names.  Frank 
Campbell  had  withdrawn  his  petition,  and  then  they  had 
withdrawn  the  remonstrance,  too.  But  now  since  the  re- 
monstrance had  not  been  filed  against  it,  it  really  held  for 
another  year.  Then  William  A.  Parr  signed  his  name  to 
the  papers,  refusing  Campbell  a  license. 

The  temperance  forces  were  somewhat  active  in  1879. 
William  H.  Dean  appeared  before  the  board  on  June  3, 
1879,  with  his  attorney,  W.  T.  Zenor,  and  files  his  appli- 
cation for  license  to  sell  whisky,  but  E.  M.  Tracewell  files 
a  remonstrance  against  him.  After  due  consideration  the 
board  overruled  the  remonstrance.  The  case  was  then 
before  the  commissioners.  Then  E.  M.  Tracewell  moved 
that  the  applicant  show  the  court  that  he  is  a  suitable 
person  to  sell  liquor.  Mr.  Dean  objected  because  the  peti- 
tion or  motion  was  not  filed  in  due  time.  Dean  now 
appeared,  and  through  his  attorney,  W.  T.  Zenor,  files  a 
motion  to  strike  out  certain  parts  of  the  remonstrance. 
The  board  overruled  part  of  the  motion  and  sustained  the 
other  part.  Then  Dean  files  a  motion  that  the  remon- 
strance be  made  more  specific.  Board  overruled  Dean's 
motion.  Then  Dean  files  a  demurrer  to  the  third  para- 
graph of  the  remonstrance,  but  the  board  overruled  the 
demurrer. 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  451 

Tracewell  came  now  and  files  certain  interrogatories 
propounded  to  the  applicant.  The  board  heard  the  case, 
and  being  fully  advised,  decided  Dean  complied  with  all 
the  points  of  the  law,  and  therefore  ought  to  have  a 
license.  His  saloon  was  to  be  in  Mary  Sharp's  room  on 
lot  129  on  Nelson  Street. 

The  board  ordered  that  Leavenworth  be  allowed  an- 
other justice  of  the  peace  since  the  town  was  incorporated. 
J.  J.  Clark  was  appointed. 

Leavenworth  in  1870  was  a  very  busy  place.  The  fol- 
lowing men  were  in  business  there.  The  locations  of  their 
stores  are  fairly  well  given: 

Meat  market — W.  Baggerly,  proprietor. 

Groceries  and  dry  goods — John  Bahr,  between  Second 
and  Third  Street. 

Merchant  tailor — John  Benz,  Front  and  Nelson  Streets. 

Boots  and  shoes — Thomas  Bradley,  between  Second  and 
Nelson  street. 

General  store — John  B.  Carnes,  corner  of  Front  and 
Nelson  Street. 

Furniture — J.  J.  Clark,  corner  of  Front  and  Nelson 
Street. 

James  J.  Clark — Sheriff  of  the  county.  Office  in  the 
court  house. 

Clark  and  Pankey — Commercial  Hotel,  corner  of  Front 
and  Adams  Street. 

Conrad  &  Company — Furniture  business.  Between 
First  and  Second  Street. 

J.  P.  Cozine — Editor  of  the  Leavenworth  Independent. 
Located  on  Front  and  West  Adams  Street. 


452  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Wm.  Ellsworth — Saddles  and  harness  maker.  Between 
Second  and  Third  Street  on  Nelson  Street. 

Ouerbacker's  Hotel — Between  Second  and  Third 
Streets  on  Nelson  Street.  George  Humphrey  was  the  man- 
ager; also  wharf -master. 

Caspar  Kehrer — Boots.    Front  and  Nelson  Street. 

Mark  M.  Kendall — Stoves  and  tin.  Between  Second 
and  Third  Street  on  Nelson  Street, 

William  H.  Kendall — Druggist.  Between  First  and 
Second  Street  on  Nelson  Street. 

Joe  Long — Blacksmith.  On  Nelson,  between  First  and 
Second  Street. 

Dan  Lyons — Boats  and  skiffs. 

J.  J.  McCallister — Lawyer. 

Kelso  and  McCullum — General  store,  near  Second  and 
Third  Street. 

Wm.  Mansfield  Company — Forwarding  and  commission 
merchants.     Corner  of  Front  and  Adams  Streets. 

James  M.  Mansfield — Recorder  of  the  county. 

B.  Moss — Jeweler,  on  First  and  Nelson  Street. 

Thornbury  and  Tucker — General  store  at  the  corner 
of  Nelson  and  Second  Streets. 

Joe  Weaver — Saloon. 

John  S.  Whitten — General  store.  Corner  of  Nelson 
Street. 

Jacob  Wilbur — Saloon.  Between  Second  and  Third 
Streets  on  Nelson  Street. 

W.  F.  Williams — Factory. 

Horatio  Woodbury — Internal  revenue  collector.  On 
Nelson  between   Second  and  Third   Street. 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  453 

Woodbury  &  Peckinpaugh — Attorneys.  On  Nelson 
between  Second  and  Third  Street. 

P.  H.  Odell — Boots  and  shoes  (custom  made). 

N.  P.  Peckinpaugh — Attorney.  On  Nelson  between 
Second  and  Third  Street. 

Volney  Price — Maker  of  wagons. 

Raing  &   Company — Cooper.     On  West  Front   Street. 

H.  L.  Roberson — On  Nelson  between  First  and  Second 
Street. 

J.  B.  Robinson — General  store.  On  West  Front  and 
Nelson  Streets. 

Joe  Seacat — Druggist. 

G.  W.  Stamp — Saddles  and  harness. 

Mrs.  A.  D.  Sibert— Milliner. 

David  Smith — Blacksmith. 

Andrew  J.  Stewart — Saloon.  Corner  of  First  and  Nel- 
son and  Second  Street. 

Fred  Stull — Boots  and  shoes.    Front  and  Nelson  Street. 

There  were  two  churches  in  Leavenworth  in  the  early 
days.  The  Methodists  had  one  as  early  as  1847.  The 
Presbyterian  people  built  their  church  about  the  same 
time.  The  high  water  of  1884  destroyed  the  Methodist 
church,  but  a  new  one  was  built  about  1886.  It  is  still 
standing.  The  old  one  was  used  in  the  Civil  War  to  put  the 
captives  in.  The  company  of  Captain  Hines  was  kept  in 
it  after  their  capture  at  the  Upper  Island.  They  left  the 
church  full  of  body  lice. 

The  old  seminary  building  was  used  for  a  school  till 
the  town  outgrew  it.  About  1870  work  was  begun  on  a 
new  school  building.     Elias  Leavenworth  sold  the  town  a 


454         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

lot  on  which  the  house  might  be  built  for  $500.  At  that 
time  the  house  was  one  of  the  best  in  southern  Indiana. 
There  were  about  three  teachers  employed  till  up  in  the 
nineties  when  one  taught  high  school  and  the  other  teachers 
the  grades.  The  terrible  storm  blew  down  parts  of  the 
Avails  when  the  building  was  under  construction.  That 
same  storm  blew  the  bridge  down  at  David  Cole's  Ferry 
on  Big  Blue  River. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1890  Leavenworth  was  visited  by  a 
very  destructive  fire.  Many  of  the  leading  business  men 
were  burned  out.  The  Hawn  Hotel  was  burned  down,  also 
the  Democrat  Publishing  Building  with  all  the  files  of  the 
old  newspapers,  which  was  a  terrible  loss  to  the  students 
of  history.  Hellback's  suffered  heavy  losses  and  many 
others,  including  Lafe  Fleming's  store,  M.  M.  Kendall's 
tin  shop,  Dr.  Collins'  store,  A.  M.  Scott's  store,  W.  L. 
Temple's  drug  store,  Hawn  Hotel,  P.  M.  Overbacker's 
store  and  Doctor  Hawn's  drug  store.  Lyman  Davis,  who 
was  a  porter  at  the  Hawn  House,  had  just  come  from  the 
river  where  he  had  met  the  James  Guthrie,  a  large  river 
boat.  A  gentleman,  with  whom  he  had  talked  for  a  few 
minutes,  asked  if  the  moon  was  not  rising  or  something 
because  it  was  becoming  so  light.  On  investigation  they 
discovered  the  fire.  All  means  were  taken  to  stop  the 
progress  of  the  fire,  but  in  vain,  till  the  main  part  of  the 
town  was  burned. 

The  Royal  Spoke  and  Hub  Company  began  business  at 
Leavenworth  in  the  nineties.  Ruel  Arnold  was  one  of  the 
chief  men  in  the  enterprise.  Besides  the  men  employed  an 
outlet  for  lumber,  spokes  and  staves  was  thus  provided. 

The  Leavenworth  Light  Plant  was  established  before 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  455 

1896.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  electric  lights  in 
Crawford  County.  It  was  known  then  as  the  Royal  Elec- 
tric Light  Company. 

On  January  6,  1897,  the  town  board  voted  to  bond  the 
town  for  $1,000  to  build  a  waterworks  system.  The  reser- 
voir was  situated  on  a  high  hill  east  and  north  of  the 
town.  The  mains  were  well  laid.  This  water  question  was 
a  difficult  one  during  flood  time,  for  the  river  generally 
filled  all  the  wells  with  dirty  water  so  that  one  had  to  clean 
the  wells  out  when  the  river  went  down  again. 

On  January  1,  1897,  the  town  board  agreed  to  buy 
twenty  hydrants  for  three  hundred  dollars  to  be  used  in 
case  of  fire.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Fire  Depart- 
ment in  Leavenworth.  Sam  Wright,  Clark  F.  Crecelius 
and  A.  T.  Lewis  were  members  of  the  town  board.  Since 
the  disastrous  fire  of  1890  another  one  occurred  on  Nelson 
Street,     So  the  town  board  was  rather  fearful  of  fire. 

A  vacancy  occurred  in  the  first  ward  for  trustee  in 
1898.  The  following  men  petitioned  the  town  board  to 
appoint  William  B.  Allen  trustee  and  save  the  expense  of 
an  election :  Robert  Mode,  Jesse  Melton,  J.  M.  Mansfield, 
J.  J.  McCullum,  S.  D.  Miller,  L.  P.  Shaw,  J.  S.  Miller, 
Pres  Arwick,  A.  B.  Robinson,  Guy  Straud,  J.  J.  Mcintosh, 
N.  M.  Barnett,  0.  E.  Hawn,  E.  E.  Robinson,  M.  D.  Gibbs, 
C.  M.  Callahan,  W.  H.  Callahan,  Lee  Gilmore,  H.  W.  Davis, 
T.  T.  White,  Joe  Bell,  J.  W.  Pritchard,  J.  M.  Mix,  Josiah 
Shaw,  Frank  Conrad,  Sam  Woodford,  Arthur  Ward,  P.  M. 
Overbacker,  E.  L.  Lindsey,  Andrew  Mock,  J.  D.  Wilkins, 
M.  G.  Perkhiser,  S.  E.  Grimes,  George  Woodford,  Reece 
Conrad,  Wick  Gibbs,  O.  N.  Whitcomb,  Lewis  Beers,  Uriah 
Green,  Lewis  Woodford,  W.   S.  Summers,  J.  J.  Lindley, 


456  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Sam  Jenner,  and  many  others.  The  Leavenworth  town 
board  received  the  petition  on  May  5,  1897,  and  appointed 
William  B.  Allen,  S.  A.  Beals  being  the  clerk. 

On  May  20,  1897,  the  town  board  sold  all  of  its  one 
thousand  dollar  stock  in  the  waterworks  to  Richard  H. 
Willett  for  one  thousand  and  thirty  dollars.  Thus  the 
water  system  became  a  private  affair. 

At  the  same  meeting  the  board  appointed  a  fire  board 
of  five  members :  S.  E.  Grimes,  0.  A.  Adams,  0.  N.  Whit- 
comb,  S.  E.  McFall  and  John  Ott.  A  series  of  by-laws  were 
drawn  up : 

(1).  The  Fire  Department  was  to  meet  once  each 
month. 

( 2 ) .  There  was  to  be  a  quantity  of  hose  purchased  for 
the  Fire  Department. 

(3).     The  men  were  to  serve  without  pay. 

(4).  All  assistants  must  obey  the  command  of  the 
chief  when  under  drill. 

(5).  All  citizens  must  obey  the  orders  of  the  Fire  De- 
partment in  case  of  fire. 

(6).  The  men  were  to  meet  and  organize  and  lay 
plans  for  the  welfare  of  the  department. 

On  October  8,  1897,  an  ordinance  was  enacted  against 
throwing  snowballs,  using  bean-shooters,  flobert  rifles,  air- 
guns  and  pitching  baseball  on  the  streets. 

Another  ordinance,  No.  18,  was  enacted  granting  Mr. 
A.  Mock  the  right  to  erect  a  pair  of  scales  in  front  of  his 
store  on  Nelson  street. 

The  town  board  received  a  petition  from  over  fifty  citi- 
zens of  the  town  asking  that  a  turnpike  be  allowed  to  use 
the  streets  of  Leavenworth  and  an  election  be  held  to  ascer- 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  457 

tain  whether  the  citizens  desired  to  build  a  pike  at  the 
tax  payers  expense.  The  board  ordered  an  election  held 
and  the  petition  was  granted. 

September  16,  1903,  the  board  extended  the  corporation 
west  and  north  for  school  purposes.  The  school  at  that 
time  was  one  of  the  best  in  southern  Indiana.  In  1900  the 
school  board  elected  Charles  W.  Dotson  of  Tell  City  prin- 
cipal of  their  schools.  He  was  a  strong  school  man  and 
worked  very  hard  to  get  the  schools  on  a  high  plane  of 
efficiency. 

On  February  25,  1904,  the  town  board  issued  a  quaran- 
tine against  English  and  Sterling  township  on  account  of 
a  smallpox  scare.  Bill  Mood,  who  had  been  doorkeeper  of 
the  Senate  at  Indianapolis  during  the  term  of  the  Legis- 
lature in  1903,  came  back  home  with  his  clothes  smelling 
with  strong  odors  of  various  kinds.  Word  was  soon  out 
[that  Senator  Jeff  Gibson  of  Crawford  and  Perry  Counties 
had  died  from  smallpox  and  when  the  body  was  shipped 
back  home  many  cases  of  the  disease  were  contracted. 

In  1902  Doctor  Isaac  Doolittle  conceived  the  idea  of 
putting  a  button  factory  at  Leavenworth.  Assisted  by 
friends,  he  established  the  factory  in  the  old  court  house 
at  Leavenworth.  Cutting  machines  were  installed  and 
soon  a  new  vocation  was  started  for  the  boys.  Men  caught 
the  mussel-shells  with  brails  dragging  along  on  the  mussel- 
shell  bar.  They  were  then  "cooked  out"  and  the  shells 
cleaned.  Various  names  were  used  for  different  kinds  of 
shells,  such  as  "Sand  Shell,"  "Nigger  Toe,"  "Wash 
Board"  and  "Skipper,"  besides  many  others. 

After  a  few  years  Doolittle  left  and  Mr.  Joseph  Bell 


458  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

secured  the  management  of  the  factory.  He  still  runs  the 
button  business. 

A  creamery  and  a  bank  were  started  in  Leavenworth 
after  1904.  The  creamery  was  not  a  success,  but  the  bank 
was.  Mr.  Elmer  Merrilees,  who  had  been  cashier  in  the 
State  Bank  at  English,  was  employed  after  Mr.  Shrews- 
bury left.     He  built  up  a  big  banking  business. 

The  morning  of  December  4,  1918,  when  Elmer  Mer- 
rilees, who  was  the  cashier  of  the  Leavenworth  State  Bank, 
entered  the  bank  at  eight  o'clock,  he  found  that  bandits 
had  been  there  the  night  before.  They  had  secured  en- 
trance at  a  window  in  some  way.  The  vault  to  the  bank 
was  blown  open  by  a  charge  of  nitroglycerin.  The  safety 
boxes  in  the  vault  were  stored  with  government  bonds  and 
war  savings  stamps.  The  bandits  worked  away  unmolested 
till  they  secured  about  $35,000  in  bonds.  They  never  got 
the  bank  safe  open.  About  two  o'clock  they  left  in  an 
automobile.  When  they  arrived  near  William  Fesler's 
farm  the  car  "went  dead."  They  could  not  get  it  to  run. 
Then  they  evidently  intended  to  steal  Mr.  Fesler's  new 
car,  but  they  could  not  get  it  started  so  they  called  him  out 
and  hired  him  to  take  them  to  Milltown.  When  he  went 
into  his  garage  he  saw  the  doors  open  and  found  that  some 
one  had  been  tinkering  with  the  car.  He  drove  them  to 
Milltown.  Here  they  paid  him  twenty  dollars  for  the  trip. 
Their  old  car  was  left  in  care  of  Mr.  Fesler.  At  Milltown 
the  men  hired  a  taxi  to  drive  them  to  a  town  over  in  Wash- 
ington County  where  they  escaped  on  a  train. 

The  people  at  Leavenworth  had  seen  the  strangers 
around  the  town  for  a  day  or  two.  One  worked  on  the  car 
part  of  the  day  before  the  robbery.    Several  men  heard  the 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  459 

charge  of  nitroglycerin  when  it  exploded  bnt  they  never 
made  any  investigation. 

The  heaviest  losers  were  thought  to  be  S.  D.  Alexander, 
Joseph  Bell,  Peter  Overbacker,  Will  Conrad,  Henry  Col- 
lins, Alvin  Tower  and  many  others.  The  matter  was  in 
court  a  long  time.  Finally  the  Leavenworth  State  Bank 
paid  the  losers  about  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  amount  stolen. 
The  losers  were  glad  to  get  back  that  much  of  the  loss. 
The  bank  is  to  be  commended  for  the  compromise.  The 
people  who  bought  bonds  and  war  savings  stamps  enclured 
many  hardships  and  sacrifices  to  save  the  money.  Several 
sold  eggs  and  cream  for  the  money  which  put  Crawford 
County  over  the  top.  One  may  imagine  that  there  were 
some  mad  men  in  Leavenworth  that  day,  when  they  learned 
that  the  bank  was  robbed. 

Mrs.  H.  H.  Deen  had  a  five  hundred  dollar  bond  in  a  big 
envelope  with  her  husband's  life  insurance  policy.  The 
robbers  opened  it  and  saw  the  policy  and  threw  it  down. 
Many  others  were  fortunate,  too,  in  that  their  bonds  were 
not  found  or  were  overlooked  by  the  men  in  their  haste. 

In  1913  the  town  was  visited  by  a  very  high  water. 
Much  damage  and  suffering  occurred  in  the  town.  The 
people  of  California  sent  to  the  flooded  city  a  car  load  of 
potatoes  and  many  other  things  which  were  of  great  help 
to  the  people. 

The  school  of  the  town  was  commissioned  so  that  the 
graduates  from  Leavenworth  might  go  out  and  enter  the 
teaching  profession.  An  addition  to  the  building  was  con- 
structed and  the  work  of  the  school  was  put  on  a  high 
plane.  Among  the  men  who  worked  so  hard  to  secure 
success  for  the  school  one  should  not  omit  these :    W.  W. 


460         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Wells,  C.  W.  Dodson,  S.  C.  Adams,  C.  R.  Williams,  V.  B. 
Everdon,  Bernie  Stewart,   S.  A.  Beals  and  C.  D.  Tower. 

In  this  brief  account  many  news  items  have  been 
omitted  because  sufficient  data  was  not  at  hand  to  complete 
the  narration. 

The  leading  physician  in  Leavenworth  is  Doctor  H.  H. 
Deen,  who  was  born  in  Perry  County.  He  graduated  from 
the  Louisville  School  of  Medicine  in  1906.  That  year  he 
located  in  Leavenworth.  During  the  World  War  he  was 
a  commissioned  officer  as  Lieutenant  of  the  Southwest  Sta- 
tion of  Texas  and  Oklahoma,  1918-1919.  He  has  done  post- 
graduate work  in  medical  centers  like  New  York  and  Chi- 
cago. He  now  holds  a  captain's  commission  in  the  Medical 
Reserve  Corps.  He  has  done  much  to  get  the  state  to  build 
roads  in  the  county. 

The  leading  business  men  of  the  town  are  Charley  Aus- 
tin, George  Dodson,  Hugh  Friedly,  Roy  Melton,  Joseph 
Lee,  Chester  Elliott,  A.  Mock,  Otho  Mock,  J.  E.  Stephen- 
son, Boone  Richardson,  Willie  Wilkins,  Mark  Froman, 
Fred  Kirsch,  Thomas  Stephenson,  George  Mix,  Alva  Mix, 
Captain  Everdon,  H.  0.  Bunch  and  W.  J.  Sacksteder. 

Among  the  ladies  one  may  mention  Mrs.  Iona  Austin, 
Claudie  Perkins,  Mrs.  Stewart,  Mrs.  Hawn  and  Mrs. 
Maher. 

Leavenworth  is  the  home  of  the  oldest  Masonic  Lodge  in 
the  county.  The  charter  shows  that  Posey  Lodge  No.  188 
was  organized  about  1856,  while  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows  established  their  lodge  about  1854. 

S.  D.  Alexander  a  few  years  ago  built  a  new  button 
mill  in  the  town.  The  factory  was  under  operation  a  few 
months  when  the  doors  were  closed.     That  left  only  one 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  461 

button  mill  in  the  town,  which  is  under  the  direction  of 
Joseph  Bell. 

In  1921  Ionian  Rainforth  was  appointed  postmaster  to 
succeed  Tilden  H.  Gobbel,  who  had  been  postmaster  for 
eight  years.  Rainforth,  who  was  a  popular  baseball 
pitcher,  was  well  liked  by  all  the  people.  Tilden  Gobbel 
opened  up  a  law  office  in  Leavenworth  since  he  retired 
from  the  postoffice. 

One  of  the  best  school  meetings  ever  held  in  the  county 
occurred  at  Leavenworth  Saturday,  January  21,  1922.  The 
church  in  which  the  meeting  was  held  was  taxed  for  stand- 
ing room.  Superintendent  E.  G.  McCullum  of  the  Jeffer- 
sonville  city  schools  was  present.  He  took  the  floor  and  in 
his  usual  manner  carried  the  audience  with  a  storm  of 
applause.  He  spoke  of  the  needs  of  the  school,  the  signs  of 
the  times  and  what  our  parents  must  do  to  meet  the  needs 
of  the  state.  At  noon  a  bountiful  dinner  was  served  to  a 
large  audience.  The  ladies  who  had  charge  of  the  dinner 
are  to  be  congratulated  for  the  way  the  patrons  and 
friends  were  served.  The  high  school  orchestra,  under  the 
direction  of  Mrs.  Mae  Baker,  furnished  delightful  music. 
The  county  agent,  Horace  Copeland,  was  present  and 
talked  to  the  people  on  club  work.  Superintendent  Beals 
of  the  English  schools  started  for  Leavenworth  but  the  ice 
was  so  bad  that  the  car  was  damaged  and  he  did  not  arrive. 
E.  G.  McCullum  spoke  again  in  Mr.  Beals'  place.  He  de- 
livered one  of  the  best  speeches  ever  heard  in  Leavenworth. 
The  large  audience  agreed  to  support  the  school  to  make 
it  score  the  fifty  points  demanded.  The  people  did  support 
the  school  which  scored  the  fifty  points  in  due  season. 

Posey  Lodge,  F.'  &  A.  M.  No.  188,  entertained  Thurs- 


462         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

day  night,  April  15,  1921,  the  Crawford  Lodge  No.  470  of 
English  with  a  grand  fish  fry.  About  forty  of  the  members 
from  English  attended.  Over  two  hundred  pounds  of  fish 
were  fried.  The  members  were  pleased  with  the  entertain- 
ment. Joseph  Bell  secured  the  steamer  Richard  Rhea  and 
took  the  visitors  for  a  ride  on  the  beautiful  Ohio  up  as  far 
as  the  new  Government  Dam  No.  44.  After  the  return  of 
the  boat  the  Crawford  lodge  conferred  the  Master  Mason 
degree  upon  Marsh  Jenkins  of  Leavenworth.  The  English 
members  were  pleased  to  learn  that  Posey  Lodge,  which 
is  the  oldest  lodge  of  Masons  in  the  county,  was  in  good 
condition  financially.  Besides  the  English  members,  many 
attended  from  Alton,  Marengo  and  Milltown. 

On  January  10,  1921,  Thomas  P.  Ellsworth  died  at 
Leavenworth.  He  had  been  sick  but  a  few  hours.  He 
was  born  in  Leavenworth  March  2,  1850.  He  enlisted  and 
served  as  a  corporal  in  Troop  F,  Eighth  Regiment,  United 
States  Cavalry  for  five  years  during  the  Indian  campaign 
in  the  West.     He  was  discharged  in  1875. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Masonic  Lodge  at  Leaven- 
worth and  a  charter  member  of  the  Order  of  the  Eastern 
Star  and  helped  organize  the  chapter  in  1912.  Ellsworth 
was  Worthy  Patron  and  his  wife  was  Worthy  Matron  when 
the  chapter  was  organized. 

The  funeral  was  under  the  auspices  of  the  Posey  Lodge, 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  all  that  was  mortal  was 
laid  to  rest  in  Cedar  cemetery. 

Ellsworth  was  one  of  the  prominent  lawyers  of  Leaven- 
worth. He  never  grew  tired  of  relating  his  experience  with 
the  Indians  when  they  were  on  the  "war  path."  On  one 
occasion  about  twenty-two  Indians  were  captured  by  the 


MARENGO  AFTER  THE  WAR  463 

soldiers,  one  of  whom  was  a  Mason.  About  sunset  one  day 
the  Captain  called  him  out  and  ordered  him  to  do  picket 
duty  from  twelve  at  night  till  day.  The  orders  were  given 
to  him  in  a  queer  way.  He  never  knew  just  why,  but  he 
did  picket  duty  as  best  he  could  till  he  was  relieved  next 
day.  That  morning  the  guards  examined  the  Indians  and 
one  was  gone.  He  was  the  old  Indian  who  was  a  Mason. 
He  went  by  Ellsworth  some  way  on  his  beat  that  night. 
When  the  Colonel  heard  about  what  had  happened  he  was 
very  angry,  but  no  one  was  courtmartialed. 

With  this  narrative  of  Leavenworth  the  author  leaves 
the  town  to  its  fate.  As  one  stands  on  the  high  hill 
overlooking  the  town  he  sees  the  beautiful  Ohio  sweep  by 
in  grace  and  beauty  around  the  bend  at  Indian  Hollow. 
The  great  boats  of  the  sixties  are  gone;  the  Shotwell,  the 
Ben  Franklin  and  the  Eclipse  run  no  more.  Occasionally 
one  may  see  a  little  gasoline  boat  pass.  The  glorious  days 
of  the  past,  the  hopes  of  the  town  and  wishes  of  the  people 
have  faded.  On  the  other  hand,  the  motor  truck,  the  six- 
cylinder  car,  and  the  roadster  on  the  state  road  leave  a 
cloud  of  dust  behind  them. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

CRAWFORD  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  were  still  interested  in 
good  roads.  Willis  Pierson  of  Marengo  was  probably  the 
first  person  to  own  an  automobile  in  Crawford  County. 

Petitions  for  a  pike  road  election  were  being  circulated 
freely  in  Jennings  township  in  1902.  An  election  was  held 
that  summer  to  see  if  the  people  wished  to  build  a  rock  road 
from  Leavenworth  to  the  Jennings  township  line  north  of 
Turner  Cox's  home. 

The  election  was  exciting.  The  people  in  the  corner  of 
the  township  near  the  poor  farm  were  very  much  opposed 
to  the  road.  A.  J.  Batman  and  many  others  threatened  to 
hang  Captain  Everdon  because  he  favored  the  road.  One 
man  said  that  our  grandchildren  will  never  see  the  bonds 
paid  for  in  their  lifetime.  The  people  who  were  to  be  the 
most  helped  by  the  road  were  the  ones  who  fought  it  the 
hardest.  The  friends  of  the  road  were  not  idle.  The 
writer  was  informed  that  they  secured  a  ballot  by  some 
means  and  raised  a  fund  of  $25  and  a  keg  of  beer.  With 
this  slush  fund  the  ballot  was  fought  to  the  bitter  end. 
Leavenworth,  naturally,  wanted  the  road.  The  trade  would 
be  increased  and  many  men  out  of  work  would  have  a 
chance  to  secure  employment.  The  northwest  part  of  the 
township  fought  every  inch  of  the  way.     When  the  votes 

464 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  465 

were  counted  out,  the  vote  for  the  pike  road  had  carried 
by  a  majority  of  125  votes. 

The  bonds  were  advertised,  but  no  one  would  buy  them 
because  the  commissioners  had  changed  the  course  of  the 
road  and  the  time  was  one  day  short.  There  were  many 
other  reasons  for  men  not  buying  the  bonds,  but  the  two 
above  were  sufficient.  The  editor  of  the  English  News  in 
commenting  on  the  matter  said  that  the  people  felt  that  it 
was  a  great  blessing  that  the  matter  lost  out.  Later  on  the 
bonds  were  sold  and  the  contract  awarded  to  Mr.  Fisher, 
who  failed  to  complete  the  road.  Then  it  cost  the  bond 
of  Fisher  about  $1,600  a  mile.  After  Fisher  left  M.  C. 
Froman  was  made  overseer.  The  men  were  divided  into 
two  groups.  The  groups  met  at  Rufus  Temple's  home  in 
the  summer  of  1908  and  completed  the  road.  This  was  one 
of  the  first  roads  built  in  the  county. 

The  election  of  1900  was  an  interesting  one.  The  Dem- 
ocratic primary  was  held  in  the  early  spring.  The  Demo- 
crats nominated  a  good  substantial  ticket :  Prosecutor,  John 
Luckett ;  representative,  Charles  Myler;  treasurer,  D.  F. 
Davis;  recorder,  G.  W.  Cuzzort;  sheriff,  John  Gilliland; 
coroner,  Bryan  Davis;  surveyor,  Thomas  Cunningham; 
assessor,  Lewis  Pfeiffer. 

The  Republicans  at  their  county  convention  held  on 
April  14,  1900,  had  placed  the  following  ticket  in  the  field : 
Treasurer,  J.  A.  Blevins;  recorder,  George  C.  Smith; 
sheriff,  W.  H.  Harvey;  assessor,  W.  H.  Landrus;  commis- 
sioner, J.  M.  Johnson ;  commissioner,  W.  H.  Scott ;  coroner, 
J.  E.  Jackson;  surveyor,  W.  H.  Ott. 

When  the  campaign  began  to  warm  up  in  the  autumn 
the  Democratic  workers  became  a  little  scared.     They  bor- 


466  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

rowed  about  $500  and  put  that  sum  into  the  campaign 
funds,  as  they  thought,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  it  ever  was 
spent  for  the  party.  They  planned  to  elect  the  majority  of 
trustees  who  would  elect  a  county  superintendent.  Of 
course  the  county  superintendent  was  to  pay  off  this  note. 
That  was  an  excellent  scheme,  but  the  best  of  plans  fail 
sometimes.  The  Democrats  elected  the  county  ticket.  The 
vote  was  about  as  follows:  Prosecutor,  John  Luckett 
(Dem)  1,694,  James  Stewart  (Rep)  1,507;  representative, 
Charles  Myler  (Dem)  1,665,  George  Sloan  (Rep)  1,523; 
treasurer,  D.  F.  Davis  (Dem)  1,663,  Joseph  Blevins  (Rep) 
1,529;  recorder,  G.  W.  Cuzzort  (Dem)  1,658,  George  Smith 
(Rep)  1,529;  sheriff,  John  Gilliland  (Dem)  1,711,  Willis 
Harvey  (Rep)  1,464;  assessor,  Lewis  Pfeiffer  (Dem) 
1,690,  W.  H.  Landrus  (Rep)  1,497;  surveyor,  Cun- 
ningham (Dem)  1,694,  Wm.  Ott  (Rep)  1,491. 

The  Democrats  were  not  so  successful  in  the  trustee 
election :  The  following  table  shows  the  result :  Boone, 
John  Parr  (Rep)  ;  Jennings,  A.  J.  Beals  (Dem)  ;  Johnson, 
E.  E.  Lamon  (Rep)  ;  Liberty,  Leroy  Weathers  (Rep)  ; 
Ohio,  Luther  Jones  (Rep)  ;  Patoka,  B.  T.  McFarland 
(Dem)  ;  Sterling,  J.  C.  Longest  (Dem)  ;  Union,  W.  H.  H. 
Goldman   (Rep);  Whisky  Run,  Tom  Kelly   (Dem). 

This  gave  the  Republicans  a  majority  of  the  trustees 
which  would  enable  them  to  elect  a  Republican  for  a  county 
superintendent. 

On  June  23,  1900,  at  English  occurred  the  unveiling  of 
the  monument  of  W.  H.  English,  after  whom  the  town  was 
named.  Honorable  W.  H.  English,  son  of  the  noted  W.  H. 
English,  presided  at  the  meeting.  When  all  was  ready 
Miss  Roma  Fleming  pulled  the  cord  which  released  the 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  467 

veil.  The  English  Capital  Band  played  "My  Country  'Tis 
of  Thee."  Despite  the  heavy  rains  a  large  audience  had 
gathered  to  witness  the  unveiling  of  the  statue. 

The  Democrats  at  the  fall  election  had  elected  the 
entire  county  ticket  by  a  safe  margin.  The  commissioners 
met  in  session  November  3,  1900,  and  proposed  to  make  a 
new  township.  James  R.  Duffin  and  Charles  Fitzgerald 
produced  maps  and  papers  on  which  were  the  outlines  of  a 
new  township.  Just  why  the  board  of  commissioners,  to 
whom  the  people  had  entrusted  the  management  of  the 
county,  should  make  a  new  township,  one  can  not  say. 
Surely  nothing  could  be  gained  by  it.  The  board  united 
Boone  and  Ohio  townships,  each  of  which  had  elected  Re- 
publican trustees.  Then  the  new  township  was  carved  out 
of  Union,  Patoka  and  Sterling  townships.  S.  T.  Roberson, 
who  was  a  loyal  Democrat,  was  appointed  trustee  of  this 
new  township,  which  was  named  Taswell  township.  Jerry 
R.  Crews,  who  was  a  very  obliging  citizen  of  Patoka,  was 
appointed  assessor  of  the  new  township.  At  the  previous 
election  Mr.  Crews  had  been  elected  assessor  of  Patoka 
township.  To  fill  that  vacancy  "Pat"  Cannavan  was  ap- 
pointed. The  Democratic  paper  announced  the  action 
of  the  commissioners  very  favorably,  but  when  the 
people  heard  the  story  a  storm  of  protest  was  raised. 
Politicians  claimed  that  it  was  a  scheme  to  secure  the  elec- 
tion of  a  Democrat  for  county  superintendent.  Since  the 
plan  had  changed  the  status  of  the  board  of  trustees  from 
five  Republicans  and  four  Democrats  to  five  Democrats  and 
four  Republicans,  one  could  not  well  deny  that  argument. 

Court  proceedings  were  certain  because  Ohio  and  Boone 
townships  were  not  very  friendly,  but  a  rope  in  the  hands 


468  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

of  about  fifty  men  carried  stretching  argument.  So  at  the 
February,  1901,  meeting  the  board  rescinded  its  action 
concerning  the  new  township.  The  reader  may  think  what 
lie  pleases  about  the  whole  affair,  but  it  is  the  writer's  duty 
to  record  the  facts  in  the  case  and  not  express  opinions. 

On  March  30,  1901,  James  Cates  hanged  himself  with 
a  rope.  For  several  days  he  had  been  acting  queer  and 
threatening  to  hang  himself,  but  the  boys  kept  a  careful 
watch  over  him  night  and  day.  On  Friday  morning  about 
nine  o'clock  he  eluded  the  boys  while  they  were  interested 
in  the  last  day  of  school  at  Cates  schoolhouse  which  stood 
near  his  residence.  When  the  body  was  found  much  ex- 
citement prevailed.  The  school  was  dismissed  and  the 
coroner  called.  He  arrived  late  that  night  and  held  the 
inquest.  Mr.  Cates  was  the  Republican  candidate  for 
assessor  at  the  recent  election  in  Jennings  township.  Men 
believed  that  the  worry  over  his  defeat  caused  him  to  lose 
his  mind. 

The  census  of  Crawford  County  was  taken  in  1900  by 
D.  F.  Seacat,  F.  C.  Landrus,  C.  J.  Long,  Robert  McBurney, 
F.  A.  Thornbury,  A.  B.  Robertson,  M.  E.  Stewart,  J.  M. 
Miller,  J.  M.  Riddle,  James  Bobbitt,  J.  R.  Solan  and  Alex 
Priest.  These  men  had  a  very  difficult  task  to  perform  but 
they  did  it  with   distinction. 

The  books  of  the  county  officers  were  run  by  experts  in 
1901  and  many  errors  were  found.  J.  D.  Fleming  was 
charged  with  $2,477,  W.  Q.  Ballard,  $851  and  Richard 
Clark  with  $700.  Out  of  courtesy  to  Ballard  one  should 
say  that  he  collected  more  fees  than  any  other  sheriff.  He 
made  his  salary  out  of  fees  and  turned  in  to  the  county 
$851  extra. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEAES     469 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  were  very  much  excited 
on  hearing  that  William  H.  Cunningham,  who  lived  about 
two  miles  south  of  English,  had  been  severely  flogged  on 
December  7,  1901.  Eight  masked  men  rushed  into  the 
house  and  seized  and  tied  him  to  a  tree  where  he  was  ter- 
ribly beaten.  After  being  released  they  informed  him 
that  in  the  future  the  old  man  was  to  attend  to  his  own 
business.  The  same  night  Dave  Tyre  was  caught  about 
four  miles  southeast  of  English.  They  gave  him  a  good 
whipping,  too. 

John  Hollcroft  of  Alton  made  public  a  very  interesting 
letter  which  was  written  by  a  soldier  boy  in  1863.  Below 
is  the  letter  in  full  which  was  published  about  1901 : 

Belles  Island,  Va., 

Dec.  27,  1863. 
E.  P.  T.  Hollcroft, 

Alton,  Indiana. 
Dear  Sir  : — ■ 

I  am  well  at  present  and  hope  these  few  lines  will  find 
you  the  same.  I  am  a  prisoner  of  war.  I  have  written 
home  three  times  but  get  no  answer.  I  want  you  to  send 
me  fifteen  pounds  of  buttered  crackers  and  ten  pounds  of 
fat  bacon.  I  shall  pay  you  some  time.  Anything  the  good 
people  of  Alton  may  send  me  will  be  appreciated.  Send 
the  box  by  express  to  Sergeant  S.  A.  Claycomb,  Co.  G, 
65th  Regiment,  Indiana  Volunteers.  A  prisoner  of  War, 
Belles  Island,  Richmond,  Va. 

[Signed], 


470         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Later  Claycomb  was  sent  to  Andersonville  where  the 
poor  boy  died  from  starvation  and  cruel  treatment. 

The  campaign  of  1902  was  one  in  which  much  hard  work 
was  done.  The  Democrats  were  much  encouraged  by  the 
election  of  1900  in  which  the  county  ticket  was  elected. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  committee  on  January  24,  1902,  S.  A. 
Beals  was  chosen  chairman. 

The  Democratic  primary  w^as  fought  out  that  spring. 
For  sheriff  T.  P.  Cummins,  M.  J.  Brown  and  Pat  Cannavan 
were  candidates.  Later  Cannavan  withdrew  and  Jerry 
Crews  announced  from  Patoka.  Judge  Cook  and  Stock- 
slager  of  Corydon  were  candidates  for  judge.  By  a  gentle- 
manly agreement  of  some  kind  Perry  County  agreed  to 
support  our  candidate  for  state  senator.  Then  D.  T. 
Stephenson,  S.  A.  Beals  and  Clark  Crecelius  became  can- 
didates. M.  C.  Froman,  L.  V.  By  rum  and  John  M.  Scout 
were  candidates  for  county  commissioner.  For  commis- 
sioner of  the  second  district,  David  E.  Wright  and  Hardin 
P.  Enlow  were  the  leading  candidates.  For  coroner,  Rufus 
Y.  Thomas  and  S.  Miller  announced;  against  Gregory  for 
clerk,  Davis  for  treasurer  and  Luckett  for  prosecutor  there 
was  no  opposition.  The  fight  for  the  nominee  for  sheriff 
was  a  very  bitter  one.  Much  opposition  to  M.  C.  Froman 
arose  because  of  his  relation  to  the  new  township.  L.  V. 
Byrum,  who  had  been  a  candidate  for  commissioner  in 
1900,  was  in  the  race  again.  The  primary  drew  to  a  close. 
The  vote  cast  was  extremely  light.  The  following  figures 
give  the  vote :  Judge,  Cook,  986,  Stocklager,  238 ;  sen- 
ator, D.  T.  Stephenson,  161,  C.  F.  Crecelius,  334,  S.  A. 
Beals,  620;  prosecutor,  John  Luckett,  1,188;  congress,  W. 
T.  Zenor,  1,217;  clerk,  W.  L.  Gregory,  1,180;  sheriff,  T.  B. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  471 

Cummins,  427,  M.  J.  Brown,  309,  J.  R.  Crews,  455;  treas- 
urer, D.  F.  Davis,  1,169;  commissioner,  M.  C.  Froman,  426, 
L.  V.  Byrum,  489,  John  M.  Scout,  229 ;  commissioner  sec- 
ond district,  D.  E.  Wright,  443,  Hardin  Enlow,  391,  Will- 
iam Landiss,  307 ;  coroner,  Sam  Miller,  880,  Rufus  Y. 
Thomas,  275. 

Much  hard  feeling  existed  over  the  county.  Martin  J. 
Brown's  friends  were  angry.  The  report  was  circulated  on 
the  eve  of  the  primary  that  the  men  should  vote  for  Cum- 
mins or  Crews.  One  can  not  tell  who  was  responsible  for 
such  a  report.  Brown,  who  was  an  old  soldier,  was  an 
excellent  man.  No  doubt  he  lost  many  votes  by  the  report, 
for  men  just  supposed  he  had  withdrawn,  but  the  matter 
caused  discontent  among  Brown's  friends. 

The  Republican  party  held  a  county  convention  at 
Grantsburg  on  June  7,  1902,  at  one  o'clock.  James  Pro 
stated  the  purpose  of  the  meeting.  Jerry  Suddarth  was 
made  chairman  and  C.  A.  Robertson  secretary.  0.  E. 
Hawn  nominated  Joseph  Bell  for  treasurer  and  Willis  Har- 
vey nominated  C.  A.  Pierson.  On  the  first  ballot  Bell 
received  133  votes  and  Pierson  21.  For  sheriff  George 
Seaton  nominated  Fountain  McMickle  and  George  Wise- 
man nominated  Henry  Roberson.  On  the  first  ballot 
Roberson  received  108  votes  and  McMickle  46.  Doctor 
Fetzer  nominated  Elwood  Boyd  for  clerk.  There  being  no 
opposition  Boyd  was  nominated  by  acclamation.  County 
assessor,  Eli  McKenzie ;  commissioner  of  first  district,  Sam 
Bird  nominated  Walter  Coleman  and  George  Jacobs  nom- 
inated Peter  Hilgert.  On  the  first  ballot  Coleman  received 
95  votes  and  Hilgert  58.  Doctor  Hawn  nominated  Doctor 
Dantic  for  coroner  and  J.  W.  Senn  named  John  Roberson. 


472  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

On  the  first  ballot  Dantic  received  126  votes  and  Roberson 
28. 

At  the  close  of  the  convention  State  Chairman  Good- 
rich delivered  an  address.  The  delegates  went  home  highly 
pleased  with  the  ticket.  No  dissatisfaction  existed  in  any 
form. 

The  Democrats  entered  the  campaign  under  disagree- 
able circumstances.  They  claimed  that  they  had  paid  off 
$14,000  of  the  county  debt  and  had  reduced  the  tax  rate, 
too,  during  the  first  eight  months  of  1902.  But  they  had 
no  reasonable  excuse  for  making  Taswell  township. 

Much  dissatisfaction  existed  among  the  Democrats  be- 
cause Perry  County  did  not  support  Stewart  Beals  for 
state  senator.  It  seems  that  Allen  Payton,  who  was  a 
prominent  farmer  of  Spencer  County,  had  persuaded  the 
Perry  County  delegation  to  support  him  instead  of  S.  A. 
Beals.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Payton  was  nominated  at  Rock- 
port  on  June  31,  1902. 

The  Republican  district  convention  met  at  Cannelton 
on  September  6,  1902,  and  nominated  Jeff  Gibson  of 
Branchville  and  William  Winchell  of  Tobinsport  for  state 
senator  and  representative  respectively. 

Stewart  Beals,  who  had  been  defeated  for  the  nom- 
ination, worked  hard  for  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Payton  in 
Crawford  County. 

The  campaign  was  well  under  way  when  certain  un- 
kind remarks  were  made  about  Payton  who  had  a  church 
on  his  back.  The  Republican  account  of  the  affair  ap- 
peared in  the  English  News  for  October  17,  1902. 

It  seemed  that  the  Baptist  people  had  built  the  Baker 
Creek  church  in  1840.    At  the  present  time  it  had  not  been 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  473 

used  much  for  several  years.  Some  one  made  a  fictitious 
entry  on  a  certain  tax  duplicate  describing  the  land  by 
congressional  townships  and  congressional  lines,  so  that 
the  people  did  not  recognize  the  property  when  the  site 
was  advertised  for  taxes.  Payton  bought  in  the  site  for 
$2.18  and  soon  sold  it  for  $100.  No  one  knew  anything 
about  the  matter  till  certain  men  came  one  day  to  tear 
down  the  old  church.  Then  the  whole  affair  became 
known,  but  nothing  could  be  done  to  right  the  matter.  This 
occurred  in  1894,  but  the  people  had  not  forgotten  the 
affair  •  so  when  Payton  was  nominated  the  whole  affair 
came  up  again.  Payton,  with  the  church  on  his  back,  and 
the  commissioners  with  Taswell  township  to  account 
for,  made  matters  very  uncertain.  Payton  offered  to  pay 
$150  to  the  good  Baptist  people,  but  they  would  not  accept 
it  then.  Certain  graves  were  torn  up  on  the  plot  of  ground 
and  the  headstones  broken  down  by  the  men  who  farmed  it. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  very  pleasing  to  the 
Republicans.    The  vote  was  : 

Senator  of  Perry,  Spencer  and  Crawford,  Payton 
(Dem)  1,455,  Gibson  (Rep)  1,400;  clerk,  Gregory  (Dem) 
1,400,  Boyd  (Rep)  1,424;  treasurer,  Davis  (Dem)  1,400, 
Bell  (Rep)  1,437;  sheriff,  Crews  (Dem)  1,455,  Roberson 
(Rep)  1,453;  commissioner  first  district,  Byrum  (Dem) 
1,425,  Coleman  (Rep)  1,430;  commissioner  of  second  dis- 
trict, Wright   (Dem)   1,416,  Deich   (Rep)   1,457. 

Payton  carried  Crawford  County  by  55  votes,  but  the 
people  in  Spencer  County  ' '  snowed ' '  him  under  by  a  large 
vote.     Gibson  was  elected. 

Richard  Crews  of  Taswell  was  elected  by  two  votes. 


474  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

This  was  the  worst  defeat  the  Democrats  had  received  for 
some  time. 

The  Republicans  were  much  pleased  with  the  election, 
but  news  came  that  Trustee  Jones,  who  had  been  elected  in 
Ohio  township,  had  turned  Democrat.  Such  a  thing  had 
never  happened  before  in  the  county.  Jones  had  a  legal 
right  to  turn  Democrat  if  he  wished,  but  he  should  have 
resigned  the  office.  This  he  did  not  do,  but  agreed  to  enter 
the  caucus  with  the  Democratic  trustees  and  vote  for  a 
Democratic  county  superintendent.  He  was  a  close  friend 
of  the  writer  at  the  time.  Whatever  his  errors  were,  if  he 
had  any,  one  may  now  look  over  and  spread  the  mantle  of 
charity  over  his  weakness.  As  a  business  man  he  was 
strictly  on  the  square  with  the  township's  business. 

When  the  news  became  known  about  Jones'  action, 
candidates  for  county  superintendent  sprang  up  on  all 
sides.  There  were  Henry  Mock  of  Taswell,  who  was  a 
brilliant  young  man,  a  graduate  of  the  State  Normal;  T.  B. 
Sonner  of  English,  who  had  been  professor  of  the  English 
schools  for  some  time.  He  was  born  in  Harrison  County; 
Luther  Flanigan,  of  Milltown,  who  was  born  in  a  log 
cabin  house  over  near  the  Wyandotte  Cave.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  the  scientific  course  of  Danville  Normal  in 
1900;  Stuart  A.  Beals,  of  Leavenworth,  who  was  reared  in 
the  township  of  Jennings.  He  had  been  one  of  the  leading 
teachers  of  Leavenworth  for  several  years. 

The  Democratic  trustees  were  surprised  at  the  action  of 
Trustee  Jones.  They  hardly  knew  what  to  do.  They 
could  not  elect  anyone  by  themselves.  They  had  nothing 
to  lose  and  a  chance  to  gain.  So  they  called  a  caucus 
several  weeks  before   election  to   see  what   Trustee   Jones 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  475 

would  really  do.  To  their  great  joy  he  was  one  of  the 
first  to  be  present.  The  four  Democrats  gave  him  the  hand 
of  fellowship.  Tickets  were  made  out  of  small  slips  of 
yellow  paper.  The  five  agreed  that  anyone  who  received 
three  out  of  the  five  votes  should  be  the  nominee.  One 
trustee  told  the  writer  that  at  first  they  folded  the  papers 
so  that  one  could  not  see  how  each  one  voted.  That  was  a 
hot  morning.  The  air  was  suffocating  in  the  dusty  room 
where  they  were  balloting.  The  vote  stood  :  Beals  2,  Flan- 
igan  1,  Mock  1,  Sonner  1.  The  next  ballot  Beals  would 
lose  one  and  some  other  man  would  gain  one.  After  about 
three  hours  of  balloting  one  trustee  said  that  they  became 
careless  and  threw  the  ballots  into  the  hat  unfolded  but 
name  down.  He  knew  that  Kelly  was  for  Planigan  every 
time.  Suddenly  he  saw  Jones  throw  his  ballot  into  the  hat 
and  it  flipped  up  so  that  he  could  see  Flanigan's  name  on 
it.  He  quickly  wrote  Flanigan's  name  on  his  ballot  and 
threw  it  into  the  hat.  By  that  act  Flanigan  was  nom- 
inated. 

Beals  was  defeated  in  the  caucus.  His  half-brother, 
A.  J.  Beals,  who  was  trustee  of  Jennings  township,  went 
home  disappointed. 

Later  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  Trustee  Jones. 
One  of  his  old  friends  went  to  see  him  and  had  a  long  talk 
with  him.  He  urged  Jones  to  come  back  to  the  party  which 
had  honored  him  by  electing  him  trustee.  Jones  listened 
with  courtesy,  treated  the  visitor  with  kindness  but  would 
promise  nothing.  So  the  Republicans  were  disappointed. 
They  saw  that  Charles  Robertson,  who  was  one  of  the  best 
school  men  in  southern  Indiana,  would  be  defeated  for 
re-election.     They  decided  to  try  another  scheme.     There 


476  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

was  a  chance  that  Trustee  Beals  might  vote  for  S.  A.  Beals 
if  the  four  Republican  trustees  would.  By  that  act  they 
could  beat  Jones  and  defeat  the  caucus  nominee.  As  the 
election  drew  near  rumors  wTere  numerous  about  Avhat 
would  happen.  No  one  was  sure.  The  fatal  day  came. 
All  were  present.  Beals  won  on  the  first  ballot.  Flan- 
igan,  who  was  a  courteous  gentleman,  took  the  defeat 
gracefully,  which  was  characteristic  of  a  warm-hearted  and 
high-minded  citizen.  Thus  ended  one  of  the  queerest  elec- 
tions for  county  superintendent  ever  held  in  Indiana. 

Superintendent  Beals  took  his  office  in  June,  1903.  He 
engaged  Doctor  Rigdon  of  Danville  and  Julia  Freed  of 
Corydon  as  institute  instructors  for  the  county  institute 
that  fall.  The  institute  was  held  at  Leavenworth  in  the 
Presbyterian  church.  This  was  the  last  institute  held  in 
Leavenworth. 

Probably  one  of  the  most  destructive  tornadoes  which 
ever  visited  Crawford  County  passed  south  of  English  on 
April  3,  1903.  Mrs.  Jonathan  Cunningham's  log  house 
was  torn  down.  Mrs.  Cunningham  was  killed  and  Sheridan 
Cunningham  was  crippled.  His  trousers  were  blown  from 
his  home  to  Jerry  Batman's  farm,  about  four  miles  north 
of  Milltown,  a  distance  of  about  six  miles.  Batman  sent 
Sheridan's  trousers  back  to  him.  Martin  S.  Grant  and 
Walter  May,  who  lived  near  Sulphur,  were  going  home 
from  English  with  a  team  of  mules  and  a  wagon.  The 
wind  caught  them  and  carried  the  wagon  and  team  over  a 
hundred  yards  before  they  were  brought  back  to  earth. 
The  mules  had  their  harness  torn  off  of  them  and  the  men 
were  badly  hurt.  Henry  Barnett's  house,  which  was  in 
the  path  of  the  storm,  was  torn  down.     Joseph  Pirtle's 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  477 

house  was  also  torn  down.  Catching  fire  it  burned,  but 
the  occupants  escaped  with  their  lives. 

The  Democratic  party  put  out  a  very  strong  ticket  in 
1904.  One  of  the  strongest  candidates  they  had  was 
Professor  Thomas  Sonner,  who  was  a  leading  educator  of 
the  county.  Richard  Crews,  of  Taswell,  who  had  been 
elected  county  sheriff  in  1902,  was  on  the  ticket  again.  He 
was  a  jolly  good  fellow  who  won  votes  everywhere  he  went. 
He  was  elected  by  198  votes  over  Henry  Roberson,  while 
Sonner  won  by  152.     The  whole  county  ticket  was  elected. 

The  trustees  were  elected  that  year.  The  Democrats 
elected  six.  That  assured  the  re-election  of  S.  A.  Beals 
for  county  superintendent.  The  trustees  were :  Boone, 
Bloom  Riddle,  Rep. ;  Jennings,  J.  E.  Stephenson,  Dem. ; 
Johnson,  Lee  Wright,  Dem. ;  Liberty,  John  Bird,  Rep. ; 
Ohio,  William  Fesler,  Rep. ;  Patoka,  James  M.  Tucker, 
Dem. ;  Sterling,  Will  Brown,  Dem. ;  Union,  Wallace  Myler, 
Dem. ;  Whisky  Run,  Jerry  Batman,  Dem. 

The  schools  of  Crawford  County  were  rather  short  the 
year  of  1904-5.  Many  townships  had  only  about  eighty 
days  of  school.  Plans  were  made  at  Indianapolis  by  which 
state  aid  might  be  secured  for  these  poor  townships,  so 
that  they  might  have  six  months  of  school  next  year. 

The  election  of  1906  was  a  very  exciting  one.  The  Re- 
publican convention  met  at  Grantsburg  on  August  11, 
1906.  Chairman  Lambdin  called  the  meeting  to  order  and 
stated  its  purpose.  The  following  ticket  was  placed  in  the 
field  for  election: 

Clerk,  E.  G.  Boyd;  treasurer,  James  Jackson;  recorder, 
E.  E.  Lamon ;  sheriff,  D.  M.  Seaton ;  assessor,  Perry  Sloan ; 
coroner,  Thomas  Austin;  surveyor,  H.  A.  Bates;  commis- 


478  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

sioner  of  first  district,  Walter  Coleman ;  commissioner  of 
second  district,  John  Deich ;  commissioner  of  third  district, 
H.  A.  Switzer. 

George  Hester,  who  was  a  candidate  for  Congress,  was 
present  and  delivered  an  oration.  Sam  Lambdin,  who  was 
elected  connty  chairman  on  January  26,  1906,  was  leader 
of  the  meeting. 

The  Democratic  primary  put  a  strong  ticket  in  the  field. 
Zenor  and  Cox  were  running  for  Congress.  Their  muddle 
was  causing  trouble  over  the  county.  The  contestants  for 
the  other  offices  were:  Clerk,  W.  L.  Gregory,  "Ab"  Fro- 
man;  sheriff,  James  Hanger,  Charles  Roberson;  recorder, 
George  Cuzzort,  H.  G.  Heishman;  county  assessor,  James 
Brown ;  coroner,  Mitch  Snider ;  commissioner,  Virg  Byrum. 

According  to  the  custom  of  the  party  Cuzzort  and 
Gregory  were  entitled  to  the  second  nomination,  but  to 
their  surprise,  Mr.  Froman  of  English  and  Mr.  Heishman 
announced  themselves  as  candidates  against  them. 

The  real  contest  was  between  James  Hanger  of  Jen- 
nings township  and  Charles  Roberson  of  Union  township. 
Both  were  Democratic  war  horses.  Hanger  proposed  for 
the  good  of  the  party  that  he  and  Roberson  should  decide 
the  matter  with  their  friends,  but  Roberson  refused  to  let 
their  friends  decide  the  case.  So  nothing  remained  except 
a  bitter  contest. 

The  vote  showed  these  men  were  the  nominees  and  their 
majorities:  Cox,  79;  Benz,  577;  Gregory,  714;  Hanger, 
42 ;  Cuzzort,  365 ;  James  Brown,  175 ;  L.  V.  Byrum,  166 ; 
J.  M.  Snider,  109. 

The  vote  in  the  fall  gave  the  following  results: 

Congress,  Cox,  Dem.,  105  majority  over  Hester,  Rep.; 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  479 

joint  senator,  Benz,  Dem.,  169  majority  over  S.  M.  Stewart, 
Rep. ;  treasurer,  T.  B.  Sonner,  1,279 ;  coroner,  J.  M.  Snider, 
Dem.,  158  majority  over  Tom  Austin,  Rep. ;  recorder,  Cuz- 
zort,  Dem.,  250  majority  over  E.  E.  Lamon,  Rep. ;  sheriff, 
James  Hanger,  Dem.,  93  majority  over  D.  M.  Seaton,  Rep. ; 
assessor,  James  Brown,  Dem.,  55  majority  over  Perry 
Sloan,  Rep. ;  commissioner,  first  district,  L.  V.  Byrum, 
Dem.,  200  majority  over  Walter  Coleman,  Rep. ;  commis- 
sioner, second  district,  Wm.  Lambdin,  Dem.,  46  majority 
over  John  Deich,  Rep.;  commissioner,  third  district,  Jerry 
Russell,  Dem.,  166  majority  over  H.  A.  Switzer,  Rep. ; 
clerk,  W.  L.  Gregory,  Dem.,  263  majority  over  E.  G.  Boyd, 
Rep. 

After  election  trouble  came  up  about  the  clerk's  office. 
Gregory  filed  suit  to  compel  Boyd  to  surrender  the  office. 
But  Boyd  contended  that  Gregory  was  not  entitled  to  the 
office  till  his  term  began.  The  case  was  carried  to  the 
Supreme  Court  where  the  matter  was  decided  in  Boyd's 
favor.     Stotsenberg  and  Weathers  defended  Boyd. 

At  his  home  in  Leavenworth  on  April  23,  1908,  occurred 
the  death  of  Senator  John  Benz.  He  was  born  in  Ger- 
many May  9,  1834,  and  came  to  America  when  he  was  a 
young  man.  Benz  became  a  tailor.  He  worked  hard  to 
get  enough  to  buy  a  bolt  of  goods,  from  which  he  made 
suits  for  men.  He  soon  accumulated  sufficient  funds  to 
enable  him  to  go  into  business  on  a  larger  scale.  He  be- 
came one  of  the  leading  business  men  in  Leavenworth  from 
the  time  of  the  Civil  War  until  his  death.  To  know  Sen- 
ator Benz  one  had  to  understand  him.  He  was  strictly 
honest  in  his  business.  One  could  depend  on  what  he  said 
about  a  suit  of  clothes.    In  about  1890  he  said  that  he  had 


480  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

about  $5.00  in  every  church  in  the  county.  He  was  gen 
erous  to  donate  to  all  good  charitable  bodies.  At  one  time 
Senator  Benz  knew  every  man  in  the  county  and  could  tell 
where  he  lived.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate 
and  House  several  times.  He  was  elected  coroner  once. 
The  people  of  Leavenworth  lost  a  good  business  man  when 
he  died. 

After  the  county  unit  law  was  enacted  in  1908,  Craw- 
ford County  voted  on  the  liquor  question.  The  question 
was  easily  decided.  Only  one  precinct  in  the  county  went 
wet.  Below  are  the  majorities  by  townships:  Boone,  34; 
Jennings,  46 ;  Johnson,  17 ;  Liberty,  145 ;  Ohio,  26 ;  Patoka, 
154;  Sterling,  218;  Union,  86;  Whisky  Run,  77.  The  ma- 
jority in  the  county  was  803.  The  Dry  Run  precinct  voted 
wet. 

After  Marshall  was  elected  Governor  in  1908  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  enacted  a  new  law  known  as  township  and 
ward  option  law.  Under  this  law  one  election  was  held  in 
Sterling  township  September  1,  1911.  The  drys  had  152 
votes  and  the  wets  58. 

The  victory  of  the  Democrats  in  1906  encouraged  them 
to  fight  hard  in  1908.  The  primary  that  year  was  a  very 
warm  one.  The  candidates  for  judge  were  John  H. 
Luckett  of  English  and  William  Ridley  of  Corydon.  For 
treasurer  C.  D.  Summers  of  Marengo  and  A.  D.  Huff  of 
Magnolia  were  contestants. 

Luckett  made  a  hard  fight  but  was  defeated  by  Ridley 
by  a  small  vote.  The  Democratic  and  Republican  tickets 
were : 

Judge,  William  Ridley  (Dem),  J.  L.  Suddarth  (Rep)  ; 
prosecutor,    Clyde   Lottick    (Dem),   Waldahmiller    (Rep); 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  481 

representative,  John  Sweeny  (Dem),  James  Bobbitt 
(Rep);  auditor,  J.  E.  Jones  (Dem),  Joseph  Bell  (Rep); 
treasurer,  A.  D.  Huff  (Dem),  Percy  Allen  (Rep)  ;  sheriff, 
James  Hanger  (Dem),  John  Bird  (Rep)  ;  coroner,  J.  M. 
Snider  (Dem),  Major  King  (Rep);  surveyor,  D.  Paschal 
(Dem),  Jesse  Thornbury  (Rep)  ;  commissioner,  Byrum 
(Dem),  Martin  (Rep)  ;  commissioner,  W.  T.  Beasley 
(Dem),  John  Deich  (Rep). 

The  result  of  the  election  as  far  as  one  can  determine 
was: 

Governor,  Marshall  (Dem)  1,507,  Watson  (Rep)  1,309; 
congress,  Cox  (Dem)  1,556,  Lewis  (Rep)  1,368;  represen- 
tative, Sweeney  (Dem)  1,368,  Bobbitt  (Rep)  1,458;  judge, 
Ridley  (Dem)  1,463,  Suddarth  (Rep)  1,491;  audi- 
tor, Jones  (Dem)  1,500,  Bell  (Rep)  1,408;  treasurer,  Huff 
(Dem)  1,544,  Allen  (Rep)  1,359;  sheriff,  Hanger  (Dem) 
1,513,  Bird  (Rep)  1,422;  surveyor,  Paschal  (Dem)  1,463, 
Thornbury  (Rep)  1,379;  coroner,  Snider  (Dem)  1,492, 
King  (Rep)  1,379;  commissioner,  Byrum  (Dem)  1,517, 
Martin  (Rep)  1,358;  commissioner,  Beasley  (Dem)  1,501, 
Deich  (Rep)  1,359. 

The  trustees  elected  in  1908  were :  Boone,  Tom  Esarey, 
Rep. ;  Jennings,  W.  O.  Beals,  Dem. ;  Johnson,  George  Stall- 
ing^, Dem. ;  Liberty,  Clark  Sloan,  Rep. ;  Ohio,  James  Smith, 
Rep. ;  Patoka,  C.  J.  Tucker,  Dem. ;  Sterling,  A.  T.  Rober- 
son,  Dem. ;  Union,  Victor  Goldman,  Rep. ;  Whisky  Run, 
S.  K.  Breeden,  Dem. 

The  Democrats  elected  a  majority  of  the  trustees  which 
enabled  them  to  re-elect  Superintendent  Beals  as  county 
school  head.  These  men  were  elected  for  a  term  of  four 
years,  but  a  law  enacted  later  changed  the  time  of  election 


482  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

of  trustees  from  1912  to  1914.  This  was  a  special  law 
advocated  by  Homer  Cook  while  he  was  secretary  of  state. 
The  time  of  the  county  superintendents  was  extended  till 
1917  also. 

The  Democrats  had  won  a  great  victory.  They  were 
proud  of  the  results.  Watson  came  to  visit  English  and 
spoke  during  the  campaign. 

The  people  of  Temple  during  the  summer  were  busy 
building  a  Methodist  church.  A  lot  of  ground  in  the  grove 
was  deeded  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  by  A.  L. 
Temple  and  Mrs.  Greda  Smith.  The  house  was  dedicated 
on  September  12,  1906.  A  large  crowd  of  people  was  pres- 
ent that  day.  Rev.  Breeden  and  the  minister  from  Paoli 
were  the  principal  speakers.  Pledges  sufficient  to  pay  off 
the  cost  wrere  received  by  the  church  officers. 

During  the  summer  of  1906  D.  M.  Stewart  died  at  his 
home  in  Marengo  on  October  2nd.  Stewart  was  born 
December  3,  1829.  He  went  west  to  California  during  the 
gold  fever  of  1849.  He  was  one  of  Crawford  County's 
best  men. 

The  pike  agitation  still  went  on.  The  first  election  for 
pikes  was  successful,  but  for  some  reason  the  bids  were  too 
high  or  the  bonds  did  not  sell.  Another  pike  election  was 
held  at  English  on  April  10,  1907,  for  Sterling  township. 
Heated  arguments  were  made  for  and  against  the  pike. 
The  time  set  was  a  good  date,  for  the  roads  were  certainly 
bad  in  April.  The  vote  for  the  short  pike  was:  For  the 
pike,  257 ;  against  it,  231.  Vote  for  the  long  pike  was : 
230  for  and  240  against  it.  Matters  drifted  along  until 
late  in  the  summer  when  the  commissioners  awarded  the 
contract  to  Bry  Gregory  and  Company  for  $18,500.     He 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  483 

must  begin  the  work  by  November  8,  1907,  and  complete 
the  road  by  November  8,  1909. 

A  very  sad  accident  occurred  about  four  miles  north 
of  English  on  October  2,  1909.  James  Brown,  who  was  a 
son  of  William  Brown,  went  out  coon  hunting.  The  dogs 
ran  something  up  a  tree  which  young  Brown  began  to 
climb.  Brown  being  an  excellent  climber  was  soon  in  the 
top  of  the  tree.  When  he  was  about  75  feet  from  the 
ground  he  lost  hold  some  way  and  fell  to  the  ground.  He 
hit  the  ground  so  hard  that  he  died  from  the  shock. 

The  Democratic  primary  of  1910  was  held  on  April 
15th.     The  leading  candidates  for  the  various  offices  were : 

Joint  senator,  Sweeny,  538  and  Bomar  Taylor,  722 ; 
congress,  Cox,  1,109,  Voight,  188;  clerk,  J.  E.  Stephenson, 
600,  H.  W.  Mock,  705;  recorder,  T.  B.  Ellsworth,  198, 
H.  W.  Key,  438,  Ina  Dooley,  627 ;  sheriff,  J.  R.  Crews,  467, 
W.  E.  Cummins,  206,  Pleas  Baylor,  557,  C.  M.  Goss,  42; 
county  assessor,  Bert  Hughes,  526,  I.  N.  Froman,  286,  Dan 
Tadlock,  453 ;  commissioner  of  second  district,  J.  P.  Cul- 
ver, 368,  Delia  Smith,  344,  Jerry  Russell,  365,  L.  D.  Hed- 
den,  201 ;  coroner,  W.  J.  Trusty,  509,  Douglas  McDaniel, 
344,  Enos  Wells,  132,  Hawn  Totten,  236;  surveyor,  D.  C. 
Paschal;  commissioner,  W.  T.  Beasley;  treasurer,  A.  D. 
Huff;  representative,  Sam  Benz. 

This  was  a  warm  fight.  It  seemed  that  "the  boys  were 
hungry  and  wanted  a  slice  of  steak."  Yet  they  waged  a 
clean  fight.  Stephenson  and  Mock  were  men  of  high  ideals. 
They  made  a  thorough  canvass.  Mock  gained  strength  on 
the  eve  of  the  primary  in  Patoka  and  Sterling  and  won 
the  nomination. 


484  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Cox  defeated  Voight  by  a  huge  majority.  Voight,  who 
was  a  very  good  man,  came  out  at  the  wrong  time. 

For  recorder  the  race  was  between  Key  and  Dooley. 
Dooley  living  at  English  had  the  advantage  over  Key. 
Both  were  fine  Democrats  and  would  have  made  excellent 
officers.     Dooley  won  the  nomination. 

The  race  for  sheriff  was  a  four-sided  fight.  Crews,  who 
Jiad  been  sheriff  two  terms,  had  entered  the  race  again. 
For  a  long  time  the  race  was  in  doubt,  but  Baylor  gained 
and  won  the  nomination.  Crews,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
accommodating  men  in  the  county,  was  deserted  by  certain 
men  on  the  eve  of  the  primary.  Much  hard  feeling  existed 
among  the  voters.  The  contests  of  the  other  offices  were 
fought  out  to  a  finish. 

The  Republican  party  held  its  convention  on  August 
6,  1910.  A  large  number  of  delegates  were  present.  Ed. 
Funk,  who  was  one  of  the  delegates,  went  by  where  Cadmus 
Funk  was  working  in  the  quarry  and  forced  him  to  go  to 
the  convention.  Then  they  arrived  at  English  Ed.  Funk 
mixed  up  with  the  delegates  from  other  townships  and 
made  so  many  trades  that  when  the  time  came  to  nominate 
candidates  for  sheriff  Cadmus  Funk's  name  was  the  only 
one  presented.  The  ticket  which  was  selected  that  day 
was:  Clerk,  Arthur  Stewart  of  Jennings;  treasurer, 
Alphonso  Temple  of  Sterling;  sheriff,  Cadmus  Funk  of 
Whisky  Run;  recorder,  W.  A.  Brooks  of  Boone;  assessor, 
George  Real  of  Sterling;  commissioner,  second  district, 
John  Deich  of  Patoka ;  commissioner,  third  district,  Levi 
Riddle  of  Boone. 

The  canvass  was  made  in  the  usual  way.  When  the 
election  was  over  the  Democrats  elected  all  the  ticket  but 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  485 

Baylor.  Funk  was  elected  by  six  votes.  Below  are  the 
winners  and  their  majorities : 

Congress,  Cox,  Dem.,  367 ;  representative,  Benz,  Dem., 
205;  prosecutor,  Lottick,  Dem,,  165;  clerk,  Mock,  Dem., 
213;  sheriff,  Funk,  Rep.,  6;  assessor,  Hughes,  Dem.,  32; 
surveyor,  Paschal,  Dem.,  104 ;  commissioner,  Beasley,  Dem., 
140 ;  coroner,  Trusty,  Dem.,  105 ;  commissioner,  Culver, 
Dem.,  185 ;  recorder,  Dooley,  Dem.,  63. 

The  telephones  lines,  which  had  been  built  in  1894,  were 
rebuilt  in  1899  in  many  places.  In  August  Wm.  Everdon, 
Luckett,  Grimes  and  Summers  bought  up  the  company 
lines,  after  the  Leavenworth  bank  failed  in  1897.  The  line 
was  then  built  to  Birdseye.  In  1900  the  Cumberland 
bought  all  the  home  companies.  Later  in  1908  Everdon 
built  up  the  Temple  Telephone  Company,  which  lasted  sev- 
eral years  until  it  was  divided  into  separate  companies. 

On  December  13,  1912,  occurred  the  hanging  of  Michael 
Morgan,  who  was  born  in  Boone  township,  and  for  some 
years  lived  in  Crawford  County.  At  one  time  he  was 
arrested  and  placed  in  the  jail  at  English  for  almost  a 
year.  He  was  accused  of  murdering  his  grandfather,  Har- 
bin Morgan,  of  Boone  township.  After  being  released 
from  jail  he  went  out  west  and  and  located  at  Grant's 
Pass,  Oregon.  Here  he  had  trouble  with  a  man  named 
York  and  a  fight  occurred  in  which  York  was  killed.  Mor- 
gan claimed  that  he  killed  the  man  in  self-defense.  The 
trial  occurred  in  which  he  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to 
be  hanged  December  13,  1912.  When  he  was  led  up  to  the 
gallows,  a  Catholic  priest  by  the  name  of  Moore,  who  was 
the  chaplain  of  the  Oregon  penitentiary,  gave  him  the 
crucifix  to  hold.    Later  he  handed  it  back  to  Father  Moore 


486  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

and  requested  that  it  be  sent  to  his  poor  mother  with  a  full 
account  of  the  trial  and  the  hanging.  Moore  told  Mrs. 
Morgan  in  his  letter  that  the  boy  died  calmly  and  that 
Father  Moore  was  sure  that  her  son  was  not  really  a  mur- 
derer at  heart,  and  if  he  had  been  defended  by  a  good 
lawyer  he  would  have  been  acquitted.  Several  days  before 
his  death  he  was  taken  into  the  Catholic  church  and  he 
made  a  complete  confession  regarding  the  fight  in  which 
he  killed  York.  He  claimed  that  he  struck  the  fatal  blow 
in  self-defense.  Father  Moore  said  that  the  lawyer  who 
defended  Morgan  was  incompetent  and  witnesses  were  not 
available,  since  Grant's  Pass  was  many  miles  from  the 
scene  of  the  trial. 

The  people  of  English  were  surprised  to  hear  of  the 
death  of  Attorney  Jerry  Suddarth  on  February  8,  1913,  at 
his  home  in  English.  For  many  years  he  had  been  in  poor 
health,  but  had  managed  to  keep  his  law  practice  going. 
He  was  one  of  Crawford  County's  best  lawyers.  The  body 
was  interred  at  Marengo  where  Rev.  Oster  officiated.  The 
lawyers  of  Crawford  County  were  his  pallbearers.  Sud- 
darth began  the  study  of  law  in  1880  at  Leavenworth.  His 
ability  as  a  lawyer  soon  became  well  known  over  the  state 
of  Indiana.  In  1908  he  was  a  candidate  for  judge  against 
William  Ridley.  Being  in  a  Democratic  district  he  was 
defeated,  but  the  good  people  of  Crawford  County  gave 
him  a  majority  of  28  votes  over  Ridley  who  was  a  very 
efficient  lawyer  of  Corydon. 

Despite  their  many  defeats  the  Republican  party  organ- 
ized again  in  1912  by  electing  Irvin  Bobbitt  county  chair- 
man on  January  29.  H.  Miller  was  vice-president,  Thomas 
Austin  secretary,  and  Elwood  Boyd  treasurer.     The  cen- 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  487 

tral  committee  consisted  of  Joseph  Bell,  Sam  Bird  and 
Lawrence  Jones  in  Jennings  township;  Ilenriot  and  Rob- 
ert Proctor  in  Whisky  Run;  T.  II.  Miller  and  Wal  Stewart 
in  Liberty;  T.  S.  Austin,  Wm.  Moore  and  Louis  Shields  in 
Sterling ;  Hazen  Sturns  and  Albert  Deich  in  Patoka ;  Irvin 
Bobbitt  and  George  Seaton  in  Johnson ;  Les  Morlan  in 
Union;  John  Crecelius  and  Logan  Riddle  in  Ohio,  and 
Thomas  Esarey  in  Boone.  The  party  placed  the  following 
ticket  in  the  field :  Auditor,  Bloomer  Enlow ;  treasurer, 
M.  E.  Stewart;  sheriff,  Cadmus  Funk;  commissioner,  John 
W.  Bird ;  commissioner,  third  district,  II.  C.  Roberson ; 
coroner,  Alvin  Eaton. 

The  Democrats  held  their  primary  March  8,  1912.  These 
were  the  chief  contestants :  Prosecutor,  Charles  Brown, 
589,  Tilden  Gobbel,  352;  auditor,  W.  J.  Hawkins,  J.  E. 
Jones,  102  majority;  treasurer,  W.  II.  Finch,  171,  D.  L. 
Miller,  123,  A.  H.  Flanigan,  347,  J.  F.  Jones,  299 ;  sheriff, 
L.  V.  Byrum,  388,  M.  H.  Smith,  301,  John  Ritchie,  231 ; 
commissioner,  first  district,  Lewis  Pfeiffer,  408,  Mitch 
Snider,  499 ;  commissioner,  third  district,  J.  P.  Culver, 
930;  coroner,  W.  J.  Trusty,  935. 

Both'  tickets  had  excellent  men  on  them.  Byrum  had 
made  a  good  commissioner,  but  sometimes  a  man  angers 
his  friends  by  doing  his  duty.  Just  why  the  Democratic 
party  should  turn  such  men  as  Byrum  and  Jones  down  the 
writer  can  not  say,  but  it  is  evident  that  they  could  not 
hold  their  party  together  and  both  were  defeated.  The 
party  vote  was:  President,  Wilson  (Dem)  1,159,  Taft 
(Rep)  663,  Roosevelt  (Prog)  554;  congress,  Cox  (Dem) 
1,193,  Barnes  (Rep)  977;  prosecutor,  Brown  (Dem)  1,227, 
Corbin    (Rep)    1,016;   representative,   Benz    (Dem)    1,146, 


488  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Bobbitt  (Rep)  1,077;  auditor,  Jones  (Dem)  1,115,  Enlow 
(Rep)  1,157;  treasurer,  Flanigan  (Dem)  1,165,  M.  E. 
Stewart  (Rep)  1,086;  sheriff,  Byrum  (Dem)  993,  Funk 
(Rep)  1,306;  coroner,  Trusty  (Dem)  1,146,  Eaton  (Rep) 
1,059;  commissioner,  first  district,  Snider  (Dem)  1,060, 
Bird  (Rep)  1,138;  commissioner,  third  district,  Culver 
(Dem)  1,111,  Roberson  (Rep)   1,099. 

Jones  carried  Sterling  township  by  10  votes,  while 
Flanigan  carried  it  by  119  votes.  Enlow  carried  Patoka 
township  by  62.  Byrum  lost  Sterling  by  130  votes  but 
carried  Whisky  Run  by  one  vote.  Snider  carried  Jennings 
by  11  votes  but  Bird  defeated  him  in  Sterling  by  40  votes. 
The  Democratic  party  was  somewhat  shaken  by  the  vote  of 
1912. 

The  people  of  Sterling  township  were  shocked  to  hear 
of  the  sad  death  of  William  Highfill  who  lived  near  the 
Burnett  school.  Young  Highfill,  who  lived  with  his  par- 
ents, was  engaged  in  trapping.  Men  say  that  he  was  one 
of  the  most  successful  trappers  in  the  county.  His  line  of 
traps  ran  from  Bogard  bridge  on  the  English  and  Leaven- 
worth road  down  to  Bogard,  and  after  it  empties  into  Little 
Blue,  down  Blue  River.  With  his  gun  young  Highfill 
usually  left  home  about  nine  o'clock  and  returned  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  On  the  occasion  when  the 
fatal  accident  happened  he  left  home  about  the  usual  time. 
When  evening  came  and  he  had  not  returned  the  alarm 
was  raised.  That  had  been  a  very  cold  day.  Friends 
feared  that  he  might  have  hurt  himself  and  would  freeze 
to  death.  They  gathered  at  the  home  of  his  parents  to 
learn  what  they  could  of  his  route  before  they  set  out  to 
search  for  him.     All  that  cold  night  men  with  lanterns 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  489 

were  hunting'  for  him.  By  morning  probably  three  hun- 
dred people  were  out.  Men  were  divided  into  groups,  one 
of  which  was  to  go  down  each  side  of  the  stream.  About 
ten  o  'clock  that  morning  two  men  discovered  his  cap  frozen 
in  the  ice.  They  then  saw  where  the  ice  had  broken.  The 
alarm  was  given.  Before  long  the  whole  neighborhood  was 
there.  Men  secured  a  boat  and  fished  the  body  out  of  the 
water  which  was  about  six  feet  deep.  Later  his  gun  was 
found.  He  had  started  to  cross  Little  Blue  to  get  a  mink 
out  of  a  trap.  He  had  thrown  rocks  out  on  the  ice  to  test 
it,  but  near  the  other  side  the  ice  was  thin  because  a  spring 
ran  into  the  river  there.  This  dreadful  affair  happened 
February  13,  1913,  about  one  mile  up  the  river  from 
Carnes'  old  mill  on  Little  Blue.  Evidence  showed  that 
he  had  made  a  terrible  struggle  after  breaking  through  the 
ice  before  he  drowned. 

The  county  commissioners  wanted  the  people  of  Union 
township  to  have  an  election  to  see  if  the  people  wanted 
to  build  pike  roads.  The  vote  for  the  pike  was  taken  on 
May  5,  1913.  The  result  was  177  votes  for  the  pike  to 
Grantsburg  and  29  against;  193  votes  for  the  Mifflin  pike 
and  29  against.    The  majority  for  both  roads  was  312. 

Edmund  Hostetter  died  at  Milltown  October  17,  1913. 
He  moved  to  Milltown  in  1858  and  began  milling.  When 
the  war  broke  out  he  joined  Company  E  of  the  38th  and 
later  joined  the  49th  Indiana  Volunteers.  He  married  the 
daughter  of  Clementina  Powers,  who  was  the  daughter  of 
E.  C.  Powers,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Milltown.  Later  the 
mill  was  built  up  till  he  had  one  of  the  best  mills  in  the 
county.  The  funeral  was  conducted  at  the  Presbyterian 
church  on  Sunday,  October  19,  1913.   Professor  J.  M.  John- 


490  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

son  led  in  prayer,  while  Rev.  F.  W.  Grossman  preached 
the  funeral.  The  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows 
officiated  at  the  funeral. 

The  Eastern  Star  Chapter  was  organized  at  English  on 
July  24,  1913,  with  thirty  charter  members.  The  Leaven- 
worth degree  team,  which  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  P. 
Ellsworth,  H.  H.  Deem,  S.  E.  Grimes,  D.  Moyers,  Hugh 
Friedley,  C.  T.  Allen,  William  Fesler,  Grace  Houser,  Lou 
Paxter,  Lloyd  Curts,  Alice  Sprinkle,  Belle  Alexander, 
Maude  Robinson,  Rella  Rainforth,  Margaret  Booth,  Delia 
Conrad  and  Esther  Conrad  came  over  from  Leavenworth 
and  conferred  the  degree. 

On  account  of  the  train  wreck  the  Grand  Matron  and 
secretary  did  not  arrive  till  about  midnight.  The  refresh- 
ments were  served  at  the  Commercial  Hotel  about  ten 
o'clock  that  night.  The  officers  elected  for  the  newly  or- 
ganized chapter  were  :  Worthy  Matron,  Mrs.  Joel  Melton ; 
Worthy  Patron,  Henry  Mock;  Associate  Matron,  Mrs.  J.  E. 
Stewart;  Conductress,  Mrs  Oliver  Blevins;  Secretary,  Nell 
Thornbury;  treasurer,  Mrs.  Harrison  Brown;  sentinel, 
George  W.  Cuzzort. 

The  Republicans  were  highly  elated  over  their  success 
at  the  polls  in  1912.  So  they  were  eager  to  enter  the  fray 
in  1914.  The  convention  met  April  30,  1914,  and  placed 
their  ticket  in  the  field  while  in  session  at  Marengo :  Clerk, 
Silas  Lambdin;  treasurer,  M.  E.  Stewart;  sheriff,  J.  D. 
Hammond ;  recorder,  W.  A.  Brooks ;  assessor,  George  Real ; 
coroner,  Ed.  Land;  commissioner,  J*.  W.  Bosley;  commis- 
sioner, Valentine  Deich. 

The  above  ticket  was  a  strong  one,  but  the  candidates 
for  trustee  were  even  stronger.     The  township  conventions 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  491 

selected  the  candidates  as  follows:  Boone,  E.  E.  Parr; 
Jennings,  Bing  Tower ;  Johnson,  M.  G.  Real ;  Liberty,  Reed 
Bird;  Patoka,  George  Smith;  Ohio,  Garrison  Bird;  Ster- 
ling, Noble  Benbo ;  Union,  Kenna  Senn. 

The  Democratic  party  held  its  county  primary  March 
13,  1914.  The  leading  candidates  were :  Congress,  William 
Zenor,  W.  E.  Cox;  sheriff,  Benton  Longest,  286,  M.  H. 
Smith,  415,  Jesse  Ewing,  477 ;  coroner,  William  Belcher, 
584,  Samuel  Wright,  557 ;  commissioner,  Dennis  Braden, 
300,  Jerry  Batman,  749 ;  commissioner,  second  district, 
C.  J.  Tucker,  457,  R.  M.  King,  310,  J.  A.  Tucker,  353. 

The   candidates   for   trustee   in   the   various   townships 

were  :     Jennings,  Fred  Bischop  ;  Johnson, ; 

Liberty,  John  Brown ;  Ohio,  Joshia  Harvey ;  Patoka,  Henry 

Rowland ;  Sterling, ;  Union, ; 

Whisky  Run,  John  Ferguson. 

Much  complaint  was  made  among  the  townships. 
Neither  Republicans  or  Democrats  were  satisfied.  The 
Democratic  primary  in  Jennings  township  had  nominated 
Fred  Bishop  over  Stanley  Parkhill  and  various  others.  The 
Republicans  in  Liberty  township  were  not  satisfied  with 
the  candidates  for  trustee.  The  result  of  the  election  was 
a  big  surprise  to  all.  Below  are  the  names  of  the  successful 
men  and  their  majorities :  Congress,  Cox,  Dem.,  201 ; 
judge,  Ridley,  Dem.,  190;  prosecutor,  Brown,  Dem.,  133; 
senator,  Hirsch,  Dem.,  94 ;  representative,  Benz,  Dem.,  134 ; 
treasurer,  Flanigan,  Dem.,  136;  clerk,  Mock,  Dem.,  146; 
sheriff,  Ewing,  Dem.,  49 ;  coroner,  Belcher,  Dem.,  90 ;  sur- 
veyor, Cunningham,  Dem.,  103;  commissioner,  Batman, 
Dem.,  124;  commissioner,  Tucker,  Dem.,  55;  recorder, 
Brooks,  Rep.,  19 ;  assessor,  Real,  Rep.,  44. 


492  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  trustees  were :  Boone,  Parr,  Rep. ;  Johnson,  M.  G. 
Real,  Rep.,  9 ;  Liberty,  J.  B.  Brown,  Dem.,  65 ;  Ohio,  Bird, 
Rep.,  48 ;  Patoka,  Smith,  Rep.,  15 ;  Sterling,  Denbo,  Rep., 
10 ;  Union,  Senn,  Rep.,  14 ;  Whisky  Run,  Ferguson,  Dem., 
65. 

The  Republicans  had  elected  six  trustees  and  two 
county  officers.  That  assured  them  the  county  superin- 
tendent when  Mr.  Beal's  time  expired. 

Elder  James  Bobbitt,  who  was  one  of  Crawford 
County's  noble  sons,  died  at  his  home  in  English  on 
Wednesday,  December  1,  1915.  He  had  been  planning  a 
series  of  meetings  at  the  Christian  church,  of  which  he  was 
a  member.  After  eating  a  hearty  dinner  on  Monday  he 
went  out  to  do  some  work  when  he  sank  down  suddenly  in 
the  yard.  Friends  were  called  but  he  never  regained  con- 
sciousness. Lingering  in  that  state  he  died  about  9 :28 
p.  m.  on  Wednesday.  His  funeral  was  conducted  by  Elder 
Samson  Cox  and  the  remains  were  laid  to  rest  at  Eckerty. 
His  son,  Doctor  Franklin  Bobbitt,  drove  through  from  Chi- 
cago in  his  car  which  was  one  of  the  first  ones  to  visit 
English  sometime  the  previous  summer. 

Mr.  Bobbitt  had  been  much  honored  by  the  people  of 
Crawford  County.  In  1885  he  was  elected  county  super- 
intendent of  schools.  Later,  in  1888,  he  was  elected  county 
auditor.  The  people  had  so  much  confidence  in  him  that 
they  voted  for  him  even  if  he  was  a  Republican  living  in  a 
Democratic  county. 

Christmas  afternoon  of  1915  witnessed  the  fatal  shoot- 
ing of  T.  B.  Roll  in  C.  E.  Moore's  restaurant  near  the  depot 
in  English.  Roll  had  been  in  the  restaurant  that  after- 
noon for  some  time,  when  he  was  seen  staggering  out  and 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  493 

going  around  toward  the  depot.  lie  had  not  gone  many 
steps  until  he  fell  dead.  The  citizens  notified  Coroner 
W.  L.  Belcher  who  came  up  and  held  an  inquest  over  the 
body  after  it  was  moved  to  John  Atkins'  undertak- 
ing establishment.  That  afternoon  Jerry  Moore  escaped 
from  the  town.  Later  he  was  acquitted  of  the  charge  of 
murder. 

During  the  summer  of  1915  Lloyd  Froman  and  Charles 
Roberson  were  severely  hurt  by  a  blast  where  they  were 
working  on  the  road.  Roberson  was  blinded  and  Froman 's 
eyes  were  seriously  injured.  This  accident  occurred 
August  6th. 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  were  passing  through 
a  transition  period  the  last  four  years.  The  timber  was 
being  used  up  quickly,  the  game  was  also  almost  gone  in 
the  county,  therefore  the  men  turned  their  minds  to  agri- 
culture from  a  scientific  standpoint.  The  year  of  1917  one 
could  see  as  many  as  ten  silos  being  erected  between  Ma- 
rengo and  Leavenworth.  The  coming  of  the  automobile 
encouraged  people  to  build  more  rock  roads. 

About  1915  Charles  Wright,  who  had  the  mail  route 
from  Leavenworth  to  Marengo,  purchased  a  car  to  use  in 
hauling  passengers.  Doctor  Felix  Hammond  also  bought  a 
car  from  "Woody"  Jenner  and  brought  it  to  English.  The 
editor  of  the  English  paper  said  that  the  car  "looked  good 
to  him."     This  car  was  brought  to  English  in  1914. 

Temple  Rice  Hollcroft,  who  was  attending  school  at 
Hanover  College,  received  the  highest  grades  ever  given 
any  student  in  the  college.  After  teaching  for  some  time  in 
the  University  of  Kentucky,  he  was  elected  to  a  position  on 
the  faculty  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  in  1915. 


494         HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  Marengo  Bank,  which  had  been  in  operation  for 
some  time,  began  to  dig  the  basement  of  their  new  building 
on  June  4,  1915.  A  beautiful  building  was  erected  in 
which  the  Bank  began  business  on  September  17,  1916. 

The  campaign  of  1916  was  warmly  contested.  The  new 
primary  law,  which  had  recently  been  enacted,  was  used 
by  both  parties. 

The  candidates  for  auditor  on  the  Democratic  ticket 
were  B.  T.  McFarland,  who  was  one  of  the  prominent 
teachers  of  Patoka  township,  Ora  Tadlock,  who  was  also  a 
leading  teacher  of  Ohio  township,  and  John  Spears,  of 
Taswell,  who  was  an  old  Patoka  township  boy.  For  many 
years  Spears  was  one  of  the  leading  teachers  of  the  county. 

B.  T.  McFarland,  who  had  made  Patoka  township  an 
excellent  trustee,  would  have  made  a  good  auditor,  but 
political  forces  were  at  work  which  turned  the  votes  to  the 
other  candidates. 

The  race  for  treasurer  on  the  Democratic  ticket  warmed 
up  some.  James  M.  Brown,  who  had  been  elected  to  vari- 
ous offices  in  Crawford  County,  was  the  leading  candidate. 

The  result  of  the  primary  was  in  doubt  for  a  day  or 
two  till  certain  second  choice  votes  were  counted.  The 
Democratic  and  Republican  nominees  were :  Congress, 
Cox,  Dem.,  John  Edwards,  Rep.;  prosecutor,  Charles 
Brown,  Dem.,  J.  E.  Stewart,  Rep. ;  joint  representative, 
John  Ryan,  Dem.,  Horace  Trueblood,  Rep. ;  auditor,  Ora 
Tadlock,  Dem.,  Roscoe  Stewart,  Rep.;  treasurer,  James  M. 
Brown,  Dem.,  James  J.  Smith,  Rep.;  sheriff,  Jesse  Ewing, 
Dem.,  J.  Dale  Hammond,  Rep. ;  coroner,  W.  J.  Trusty, 
Dem.,  David  Hedden,  Rep. ;  surveyor,  Thomas  Cunning- 
ham, Dem.,  R.   F.   Hiland,  Rep. ;   commissoner  of  second 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  495 

district,  C.  J.  Tucker,  Dem.,  G.  N.  Doolittle,  Rep.;  com- 
missioner of  third  district,  W.  W.  Blunk,  Dem.,  W.  C. 
Smith,  Rep. 

The  above  tickets  contained  excellent  men  on  both  sides. 
The  Republicans  had  nominated  J.  J.  Smith  for  treasurer 
over  William  Fesler  of  Jennings  township  by  a  narrow 
margin  of  votes. 

The  national  election,  which  also  occurred  this  year,  in- 
fluenced the  votes  in  the  county.  The  people  of  the  county 
saAV  that  we  were  drifting  into  war  with  Germany.  Much 
unrest  existed  among  the  voters,  too.  Matters  drifted 
along  without  much  excitement  until  a  few  days  before  the 
election  when  some  one  from  Leavenworth  informed  Pros- 
ecutor Brown  that  Mann  Hollcroft  had  sent  up  to  Leaven- 
worth a  large  quantity  of  apple  brandy.  Felix  Mode  of 
Leavenworth  hauled  the  liquor  up  to  Leavenworth  from 
Big  Bend,  Kentucky,  and  the  kegs  were  put  off  at  the 
wharf.  Dave  Moyer  hauled  the  brandy  up  to  Charles  Aus- 
tin's  ware-room  for  safe  keeping,  till  the  boat  went  up  the 
river  to  Louisville.  He  put  the  liquor  into  his  wagon 
publicly  and  rolled  the  kegs  back  into  Austin's  ware-room 
publicly.  Acting  on  the  information  sent  him  and  fearing 
that  the  liquor  was  for  the  Republicans,  he  planned  to  seize 
the  entire  quantity.  Certain  Democratic  candidates 
considered  the  proposition,  too,  but  it  was  finally  decided 
to  seize  the  liquor.  When  the  papers  were  ready  Sheriff 
Ewing  made  the  raid  on  Sunday  evening  before  the  elec- 
tion. The  kegs,  containing  400  gallons  of  brandy,  were 
rolled  into  trucks  and  wagons  and  hauled  to  English  and 
stored  in  the  jail  for  safe  keeping. 

The  next  day  much  excitement  prevailed.     Dale  Ham- 


496  HISTORY  OP  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

mond  came  to  Leavenworth  and  told  Joseph  Bell  that  he 
would  make  an  oath  before  a  notary  public  that  he  did  not 
know  anything  about  the  brandy.  The  Democratic  men 
believed  that  it  was  Republican  whiskey.  One  can  not  tell 
what  effect  the  raid  had  on  the  election  with  any  degree 
of  certainty,  but  the  returns  were  disastrous  to  the  Demo- 
crats. Below  is  the  result  of  the  election :  Congress,  Cox, 
Dem.,  229,  John  Edwards,  Rep.,  Brown,  Dem.,  16,  J.  E. 
Edwards,  Rep. ;  Ryan,  Dem.,  9,  Trueblood,  Rep.,  Tadlock, 
Dem.,  6,  J.  R.  Stewart,  Rep.,  Brown,  Dem.,  Smith,  Rep., 
191,  Ewing,  Dem.,  Hammond,  Rep.,  150;  Trusty,  Dem.,  28, 
Dave  Heclden,  Rep.,  Cunningham,  Dem.,  70,  Hiland,  Rep., 
Tucker,  Dem.,  35,  Doolittle,  Rep.,  Blunk,  Dem.,  10,  Smith, 
Rep. 

Brown  and  Ewing  were  defeated  by  a  large  vote,  while 
all  the  rest  of  the  ticket  except  Cox  were  elected  by  small, 
votes. 

After  several  years  the  liquor  was  finally  returned  to 
Hollcroft  by  order  of  the  court.  Hollcroft  came  to  Leaven- 
worth when  he  heard  about  it  and  gave  Mr.  Mode  a  severe 
beating  over  the  matter. 

Jim  Smith,  who  was  elected  treasurer,  was  one  of  Pa- 
toka  township's  noted  farmers.  Just  why  the  good  Dem- 
ocrats did  not  vote  for  Brown  is  a  mystery  to  some  men,  for 
Brown  was  one  of  the  biggest  tax  payers  in  the  county. 
Smith,  too,  was  an  excellent  farmer,  big  tax  payer,  and  one 
of  the  most  respected  men  of  the  county.  He  married  Miss 
Ella  Bowman  on  March  23,  1902,  at  the  home  of  J.  R. 
Duffin  in  English.  Mrs.  Smith  was  the  daughter  of  John 
Bowman. 

After  the  election  foreign  affairs  with  Germany  grew 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  497 

worse.  The  German  nation  sank  our  ships  on  the  high 
seas;  murdered  our  men,  and  drowned  the  women  and 
children.  Finally  President  Wilson  went  before  Congress 
and  suggested  that  war  be  declared  between  the  United 
States  and  the  German  nation. 

Congress  enacted  a  conscription  bill  which  provided  for 
a  selective  draft.  The  bill  required  all  men  between  the 
ages  of  21  and  31  to  register  their  names.  Out  of  the  num- 
ber who  registered  various  numbers  were  to  be  called  to 
the  colors. 

In  the  meanwhile  several  of  Crawford  County's  noble 
sons  had  enlisted,  among  whom  were  Elbert  Ewing  and 
Allen  Myers.     Archie  N.  Bobbitt  joined  the  navy. 

The  board  of  registration  arranged  the  boys  in  classes. 
Class  A  contained  all  single  men.  From  this  class  the  men 
were  to  be  selected  first.  Married  men  and  county  officers 
were  placed  in  the  deferred  lists. 

The  registration  was  made  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  the 
first  selection  in  the  summer.  The  drafted  men  were  ex- 
amined by  the  doctors  to  see  that  they  were  physically  fit. 
Many  of  them  did  not  pass.  When  the  war  was  over  it 
was  learned  that  the  doctors  found  about  32  per  cent,  of 
the  boys  unfit  for  military  duty. 

When  the  United  States  entered  the  war  Governor 
Goodrich  appointed  Honorable  John  H.  Luckett,  Emma 
Brown  and  A.  H.  Flanigan  to  compose  the  Council  of  De- 
fense for  Crawford  County.  It  was  their  duty  to  see  that 
no  disloyalty  of  any  kind  occurred.  The  Council  was  to 
help  in  the  sale  of  bonds,  promote  Red  Cross  drives,  and 
assist  the  Government  in  many  ways.  Professor  S.  A. 
Beals  was  president  of  the  Red  Cross  in  the  county.     He 


498  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY^ 

was  ably  assisted  by  Mrs.  Emma  Brown,  A.  II.  Flanigan, 
Sam  J.  Elsby,  J.  W.  Patton,  Lelah  Austin,  Mrs.  Margaret 
Mayer,  J.  F.  Zimmerman,  Webster  Ott,  and  many  others. 
One  can  not  say  bow  many  bonds  and  war  savings 
stamps  were  sold  or  how  much  was  donated  to  the  Red 
Cross  now,  but  Crawford  County  always  went  over  the 
top.  Men  and  women  sold  butter,  cream  and  eggs  and 
bought  war  savings  stamps  and  bonds.  Every  request  Pres- 
ident Wilson  made,  the  people  of  Crawford  County  met. 
When  money  was  scarce,  funds  low,  and  provisions 
needed,  our  men  and  women  observed  meatless  days,  days 
without  sugar,  and  submitted  to  other  war  regulations  that 
the  war  might  be  won.  The  greatest  gift  that  Crawford 
County  gave  was  her  boys,  none  of  whom,  as  far  as  the 
writer  knows,  ever  retreated  or  deserted  the  colors,  or  was 
ever  guilty  of  a  dishonorable  act  which  would  stain  their 
proud  repute  as  soldiers  of  America,  of  Indiana  and  above 
all,  of  Crawford  County. 

The  writer  has  done  the  best  he  could  to  get  all  the 
names  of  the  boys  who  were  called  to  the  colors.  Many 
errors,  doubtless,  have  been  made,  but  from  the  newspapers 
he  has  obtained  the  following  names : 

Charles  Adams,  Cecil  Austin,  Charles  Allard,  Edward 
Atwood,  Ora  Ash,  Nolan  Atz,  Claud  Austin,  Atmer  Arch- 
ibald, Logan  Ash,  Leland  Adams,  Herman  Archibald,  Roy 
Allen,  Wallace  Alderson,  George  Browning,  Frank  Bline, 
John  Ballard,  John  Bruback,  Jesse  Bird,  Roy  Brown,  Ollie 
Brown,  Rollie  Bolden,  Ivan  Belcher,  Cecil  Byrd,  Joseph 
Birkla,  Mas  Belcher,  Cyril  Bohnert,  Reuben  Bates.  Levi 
Brooks,  Emory  Brown,  Murray  Byerly,  William  Boyd,  Mc- 
Kinley    Bailey,    Will    Bell,    Isaac    Baker,    Frank    Byerly, 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  499 

George  Blevins,  Arrel  Brown,  E.  R.  Blevins,  Harry  Bab- 
cock,  Harry  Bell,  Elwood  Bird,  Bennett  Brown,  Elsie 
Brown,  Harry  Byerly,  J.  F.  Blevins,  Ebbie  Brown,  Vollie 
Brown,  Earl  Cox,  Joel  Crecelius,  Will  Conway,  James 
Creech,  Luther  Cunningham,  Charles  Clifton,  Ernest  Cox, 
Ivan  Courtney,  James  Cox,  Will  Carroll,  Claude  Carter, 
Lawrence  Cole,  Herbert  Cox,  Ezra  Cunningham,  Monroe 
Curl,  Isaac  Curts,  Ivan  Curl,  Owen  Crecelius,  Lee  Cox, 
Pearlie  Cates,  C.  R.  Critchfield,  Ora  Curl,  C.  W.  Crecelius, 
Frank  Collins,  Jacob  Crecelius,  Guy  Dodd,  Raleigh  Denbo, 
Charles  Dooley,  Oscar  DeWitt,  John  Dubois,  Selxon  Dot- 
son,  Will  Dieus,  Clyde  Dean,  John  Derch,  James  Dunn, 
Morton  Duggins,  Cleo  Dukes,  Will  DeWitt,  Veil  Deal, 
Homer  DeWitt,  Floyd  DeWitt,  Joseph  Esarey,  Edward 
Evers,  Clarence  Eaton,  Will  Everdon,  John  Elliott,  Orville 
Eastridge,  Claude  Enlow,  Hiram  Enlow,  Edward  Easter, 
Conley  Everdon,  John  Funk,  Charles  Faulkenburg,  Omer 
Forbes,  Clarence  Froman,  Zenor  Froman,  Earl  Franz, 
James  Feltman,  Charles  Felker,  Earl  Grimes,  Carter 
Greshman,  Elmer  Goldman,  Marion  Grant,  Charles  Green, 
Roy  Gibbs,  Edison  Grant,  Claude  Gregory,  Floyd  Gilliland, 
Elvin  Goldman,  John  Gilliland,  Grady  Goldman,  Sam  Gil- 
liat,  Monroe  Goldman,  Russell  Grant,  Russell  Gilliland, 
Gordon  Gibson,  Earl  Grunden,  Louis  Haycock,  Ralph  Har- 
very,  Thomas  Hammond,  E.  Higgins,  Everett  Hutslar,  Asa 
Hammond,  Elmer  Highfill,  Rupert  Higginbathen,  Simon 
Harris,  Guy  Harvey,  Ira  Hollen,  Cordia  Hammond,  Har- 
mon Hammond,  Schuyler  Hanover,  Alfred  Hubbard, 
Charles  Hollen,  S.  V.  Humphrey,  Floyd  Hollen,  Ralph 
Haney,  Jesse  Handspire,  Goldy  Hammond,  John  Huff, 
Emmett  Hurt,   Charles   Hammond,   Robert   Isley,   George 


500  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Ingle,  Claude  Ingle,  Elmer  Ingle,  J.  S.  Jones,  Charles 
Jones,  Stephen  Jones,  Elmer  Jenkins,  Ottie  Jenkins,  Clyde 
Jenkins,  John  Jucld,  Oliver  Jenkins,  Earl  Jones,  Forest 
Johnson,  Herschel  Jones,  Earl  Jenkins,  Raymond  Jones, 
Robert  Kemp,  Orville  Knight,  Albert  Kaiser,  William 
Keilman,  Oscar  Klee,  John  Kent,  Paul  Koot,  William  Kel- 
lums,  John  King,  Daniel  King,  Frank  Kaiser,  Edward 
Knight,  Torrence  Knight,  Henry  Knight,  Jerry  Landrus, 
Larmon  Longest,  Claude  Lanban,  Raymond  Leasar,  Mar- 
cellus  Lyons,  Will  F.  Long,  Joshua  Logsdon,  Charles  Lan- 
dam,  Ed  Lindeman,  Joseph  Lindeman,  Guy  Lonigan,  Peter 
Limp,  Arthur  Lane,  Hubert  Landrus,  Orville  Landam,  Ed- 
gar Longest,  Earl  Mallow,  George  Moad,  David  Mock,  Vic- 
tor Miller,  Will  Meton,  Ivan  Mock,  Charles  May,  Ellis 
Myers,  James  Morris,  Henry  Mitchell,  Claude  Melcom, 
Thomas  Mason,  Will  McDaniel,  Will  Miller,  John  Meri- 
water,  Jake  Moore,  Charles  Mock,  Elwood  Mathew,  Lee 
Megenity,  Everett  Mills,  Arthur  Mitchell,  Simon  Mitchell, 
Herschell  McAdams,  Thomas  Morgan,  Walter  Miller,  Paul 
McQually,  W.  0.  Morgan,  Ernest  Moore,  Arthur  Mix, 
Charles  Mercer,  S.  E.  Miller,  Isaiah  Mason,  Charles  Mauck, 
Norman  McFarland,  Dewey  McClure,  Vessie  Newton, 
Michael  Nolan,  George  Neimueller,  John  Newton,  Dell 
Norman,  Mayo  Newton,  Ed  Newton,  E.  N.  Newkirk, 
George  Paschal,  Robert  Pleasant,  Clarence  Pope,  James 
Parr,  William  Parr,  William  Parker,  Orville  Polen, 
Clarence  Polk,  Vincent  Patalon,  Gilbert  Partenheimer, 
Arthur  Prauer,  A.  Elmer  Poltker,  Robert  N.  Parr,  Tower 
Parkhill,  John  Pearson,  James  Polen,  Archie  Pigg,  Orin 
Polen,  Will  Purcell,  Orville  Pigg,  Claude  Poe,  C.  M.  Pier- 
son,  Gilbert  Pavey,  Allie  Patton,  0.  N.  Pierson,  Herschel 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  501 

Rainforth,  George  Redden,  Ernest  Reasor,  Mike  Rainboldt, 
Leroy  Randall,  Dora  Rhodes,  Charles  Rich,  Martin  Rich- 
ardt,  Douglas  Royal,  Walter  Riddle,  Will  Redden,  James 
Roll,  Robert  Richardson,  Will  Ross,  Shelby  Rainforth, 
Bearlie  Roll,  Harry  Roll,  Arthur  Rothrock,  C.  E.  Rodgers, 
Yollie  Reasor,  Grover  Roll,  Herbert  Rawlings,  A.  S.  Roth- 
rock, Robert  Riley,  Will  Self,  Reuben  Satterfield,  Reuben 
Small,  Floyd  Satterfield,  Lee  Sauer,  Ernie  Spencer,  Ed 
Swickard,  Aniel  Smith,  Marion  Schreiber,  James  Starrett, 
Leo  Sauer,  George  Shultz,  Charles  Standiford,  Leo  Seu- 
fert,  Herschel  Shultz,  Charles  Sturgeon,  Edward  Schlin- 
sker,  Eddie  Seaton,  Albert  Smith,  Harrel  Shafer,  Charles 
Strand,  Charles  Simcox,  John  Stepro,  David  Sillings, 
Knoefel  Sloan,  Charles  Seig,  Vollie  Suddarth,  Knoeful 
Summers,  E.  E.  Stone,  A.  R.  Stewart,  Wm.  St.  Clair, 
Emery  Starkey,  Perry  Saltsgaver,  Charles  Shotter,  Harry 
Scott,  Pearl  Shafer,  Roy  Sloan,  Calvin  Smith,  Clyde 
Speedy,  Thomas  Starrett,  Ed  Sacksteder,  Reuben  Strand, 
Raymond  Sutton,  Omer  Stephenson,  J.  R.  Smith,  Emery 
Taylor,  Will  Toothman,  Mack  Tucker,  Luther  Timberlake, 
John  Tucker,  Will  Taylor,  Roscoe  Trusty,  William  Tro- 
baugh,  Clyde  Tucker,  Stanley  Thornbury,  Edward  Under- 
bill, Wilba  Wiser,  Will  Wilks,  Clarence  Walton,  W.  L. 
Williams,  Craig  Wiseman,  Roy  Weldman,  Claud  Walts, 
Dan  C.  Yanlaningham,  Arthur  Vernon,  Hazel  Vance, 
George  VanWinkle,  D.  T.  Vance,  Charles  Waltz,  Orville 
Wyman,  Aden  Wiseman,  George  Williams,  Lonnie  Waldon, 
Morse  Webster,  Jesse  Wilson,  Varmer  Walts,  Hobart  Wise- 
man, Oscar  Wiseman,  Garrett  Weathers,  Will  Wilkins, 
A.  R.  Weathers,  Monroe  Walton,  Charles  Zimmerman,  Sam 
Zahn,  Dan  Yates. 


502 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


From  the  Gold  Star  Book  the  writer  has  selected  the 
following  material  which  he  hopes  will  be  of  honor  to  the 
relatives  of  the  boys  whose  lives  were  lost  on  the  field  of 
battle  that  the  world  might  be  made  safe  for  democracy: 


(Used  by  permission  of  Indiana  Historical  Bureau.) 

Alvin  Fetzer  Byrum,  private,  was 
a  son  of  Sampson  Byrum  and  Carrie 
Byrum;  born  January  2,  1895,  Maren- 
go, Indiana.  Hotel  clerk.  He  entered 
service  at  Chickasha,  Oklahoma.  Went 
overseas  and  was  killed  in  action  Octo- 
ber 24,  1918,  in  Argonne  Forest,  near 
Bantheville,  France.  Place  of  burial 
is  unknown. 


Levi  Carberry,  private,  son  of 
James  M.  and  Mary  E.  Carberry,  was 
born  November  2,  1889,  in  Boone  town- 
ship. He  was  a  farmer.  He  enlisted 
in  Troop  D,  First  Cavalry,  Indiana 
National  Guards,  Company  M,  152nd 
Infantry,  August  27,  1917,  at  New  Al- 
bany, Indiana.  Sailed  for  France 
June  12,  1918.  He  was  assigned  to 
Company  B,  Eighth  Machine  Gun  Battalion.  He  was 
killed  in  action  October  16,  1918,  near  Meuse-Argonne 
offensive.  He  was  buried  in  the  Argonne  American  ceme- 
tery, Romange  Grave  5,  second  102,  plot  1. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS 


503 


Clarence  Crabtree,  son  of  Lovell 
B.  and  Amma  Crabtree,  was  born 
June  3,  1896,  at  Indianapolis,  Indi- 
ana. He  was  a  rancher.  He  en- 
listed in  the  regular  army  February, 
1916,  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  Missouri. 
He  served  on  the  Mexican  border. 
Later  he  was  transferred  to  Fort  Jay, 
N.  Y.  Sent  overseas  September  1, 
1917,  where  he  was  assigned  to  Company  M,  Sixteenth  In- 
fantry, First  Division.  He  died  of  wounds  July  14,  1918, 
which  were  received  in  action  near  Cantigny.  He  was 
buried  in  the  American  cemetery,  Chateau  rou-Indre, 
France.  After  his  death  he  was  awarded  the  Croix  de 
Guerre  with  palms. 


Arthur    Stewart    Davis,    private, 
was  a  son  of  Lyman  and  Honore  Davis. 
Born   November   2,    1891,    at   Leaven- 
worth.   Was  a  button  cutter.    Entered 
service    June    14,    1918,    at    English. 
Trained    at    Indianapolis    and    Camp 
Sheridan,  Alabama.    Assigned  to  Com- 
pany D,  Ninth  Motor  Supply   Train. 
Died  of  pneumonia  at  Akron,  Ohio.  He 
was  buried  at  Leavenworth,  Indiana.     The  American  Le- 
gion Post  at  Leavenworth  was  named  in  his  honor.     He  is 
survived  by  a  widow,  Lelia  Davis,  and  three  children. 


504 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


Cleo  Walter  Dukes,  private,  was 

a  a  son  of  John  and  Emma  Dukes.     He 

was  born  January  18,  1895,  near  Mill- 
town.  He  entered  the  service  June  18, 
1918,  at  English,  Indiana.  He  was 
assigned  to  Company  A,  334th  Infan- 
^J  |  m^  try,  Eighty-fourth  Division.  Later 
JH  was  sent  to  Camp  Mills,  New  Jersey, 

from  which  he  embarked  August  30, 
1918.  Died  of  pneumonia  October  22,  1918,  at  Evacuation 
Hospital  No.  9  of  Vaubecourt.  Buried  near  Vaubecourt, 
France. 


Edward    Arthur    Easter,    private, 
was  the  son  of  Philip  and  Laura  Eas- 
ter.      He     was     born     near     Newton 
Stewart,  February  8,  1893.   He  entered 
service  July,  1918,  at  English,  Indiana. 
Sent  to  Camp  Taylor,  Kentucky,  and 
assigned    to    the     Fiftieth     Company, 
Thirteenth   Training   Battalion,    159th 
Depot    Brigade.    Later  he   was   trans- 
ferred to  the  Medical  Department  Brigade.   Died  of  pneu- 
monia October  8,  1918,  Camp  Taylor,  Kentucky.   Buried  at 
Newton  Stewart,   Orange  County,  Indiana. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS 


505 


Elmer    Lester    Goldman,    private, 
was    the    son    of   David    and    Minerva 
Goldman.      He    was   born    October    3, 
1894,   near  West  Fork,   Indiana.     He 
enlisted     at     English     September     19, 
1917,   and   was   sent   to   Camp   Taylor 
where  he  was  assigned  to  Company  I, 
119th  Infantry,  Thirtieth  Division.  He 
was  sent  overseas  May  12,  1918.     He 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Kennuel  Hill.     Killed  in  action 
September  29,  1918.     He  was  buried  in  Old  Hickory  ceme- 
tery, France. 


Andrew  Jackson  Goodman  was  the 
son  of  Andrew  J.  Goodman  and  Lucy 
Goodman.  He  was  born  June  18,  1888, 
in  English.  By  vocation  he  was  a 
meat  cutter.  Enlisted  in  the  United 
States  Army  about  1915  at  Louisville, 
Ky.  Served  on  the  Mexican  border. 
Went  overseas  June,  1917.  Assigned 
to  Company  A,  Sixteenth  Infantry, 
First  Division.  Wounded  July  19,  1918,  at  Soissons.  Re- 
turned to  the  United  States  in  February,  1919.  Died  at 
New  Albany  August  4,  1919.  Buried  at  English.  He  was 
survived  by  Mrs.  Melissa  Walker  Goodman.  He  committed 
suicide  in  a  hotel  in  New  Albany. 


506 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


Alphonso  Lincoln  Hall,  private, 
son  of  Lincoln  and  Etta  Hall,  was 
born  May  1,  1889,  near  Temple.  He 
entered  service  September  3,  1918,  at 
English.  Sent  to  Camp  Grant,  Illi- 
nois. Assigned  to  Company  D,  Fifth 
Limited  Service  Regiment.  Died  of 
pneumonia  September  28,  1918,  at 
Camp  Grant  and  was  buried  at  Temple. 

Orville    Harper,    private,    son    of 
John  M.  and  Sarah  Harper,  was  born 
October  21,  1891,  near  Marengo.     He 
entered  service  June  17,  1918,  at  Ta- 
coma,  Wash.    Trained  at  Camp  Lewis, 
Washington.      Assigned    to    Company 
A,    357th    Infantry,    Nineteenth   Divi- 
sion.    Sailed  from  Hoboken,  New  Jer- 
sey, about  September  1,  1918.    He  was 
killed  in  action  October  21,  1918,  while  his  company  was 
going  in  on  the  Meuse-Argonne  front.     Buried  in  Argonne 
American  cemetery,  Romange  Meuse. 

Will  Hubbard,  son  of  John  and 
Rozella  Hubbard,  was  born  March  3, 
near  English.  A  bookkeeper.  En- 
listed in  the  United  States  Navy  as 
second  class  yeoman,  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky, May,  1917.  Transferred  to 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  May,  1917. 
Transferred  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island, 
Later  sent  to  Philadelphia  for  Y.  M. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS 


507 


C.  A.  work.  Sent  to  London  in  November,  1017.  Served  as 
bookkeeper  for  Admiral  Sims.  Died  of  pneumonia  on  Octo- 
ber 22,  1918,  in  London.    Buried  with  honors  at  English. 


Charles  Ralph  Jones,  son  of  Evan 
and  Annie  Jones,  was  born  November 
19,  1892,  at  Temple,  Indiana.  He  en- 
tered the  service  September  20,  1917, 
at  English.  Sent  to  Camp  Taylor. 
->•  *"  HLw  Transferred    to    Camp    Sevier,    South 

•^  fefe      Carolina.      Assigned    to    Company    P, 

4  '  -'-•'  :j:  120th     Infantry,     Thirtieth     Division. 

Embarked  May  17,  1918.  Died  of 
pneumonia  November  4,  1918,  at  Pay  ton,  England.  Buried 
in  National  cemetery,  New  Albany,  Indiana. 


Luther  Lane,  seaman,  second  class, 
son  of  Barvella  and  Nancy  Lane,  born 
January  20,  1898,  at  Eckerty,  Indiana. 
Enlisted  in  the  United  States  Navy 
July  12,  1918,  at  English.  Sent  to 
Great  Lakes  Training  Station,  Chi- 
cago, Illinois.  Assigned  to  Company 
E.  Transferred  to  Puget  Sound, 
Washington,  at  which  place  he  died  of 

pneumonia    October    2,    1918.      Buried    in    the    Eastridge 

cemetery,  Crawford  County. 


508 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


Isaac    Wilson    Lawrence,    private, 

son  of  Pave  and  Rosa  Lawrence,  was 

horn    April    11,    1892,    near    Eckerty, 

Indiana.     Entered   service   March    16, 

1918,    at    English.      Trained    at    Fort 

Oglethorpe,     Georgia.       Assigned     to 

Medical   Department,   166th   Infantry, 

Forty-third    Rainbow    Division.     Sent 

overseas  in  April,  1918.     Wounded  at 

Bois  Echdon,  near  Samppes,  in  Champagne-Marne  sector, 

July  15,  1918.     Died  while  being  moved  to  the  hospital. 

Buried  at  Bussyle  Chateau,  France,  Grave  No.  2. 

Elmer  Nolan  Level,  son  of  Charles 

fand  Mary  Level,  was  born  August  11, 
1896,  near  English.  Entered  service 
September  5,  1918,  at  Eldora,  Iowa, 
where  he  was  working.  He  trained 
at  Camp  Dodge,  Iowa.  Assigned  to 
the  Forty-third  Company,  Eleventh 
Battalion,  163rd  Department  Brigade. 
Died  of  pneumonia  October  15,  1918, 
at  Camp  Dodge,  Iowa.  Buried  at  Mount  Sterling  cemetery. 
William  Kiper  Melton,  private, 
was  the  son  of  John  and  Mary  Melton. 
Born  February  5,  1889,  at  Wickliffe. 
He  entered  service  September  20, 
1917,  at  English,  Ind.  He  received  his 
training  at  Camp  Taylor.  Sent  to 
Camp  Sevier,  South  Carolina.  As- 
signed to  Company  G,  335th  Infantry, 
Company  K.     Later  sent  to  335th  In- 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS 


509 


fantry,  Company  L,  119th  Infantry,  Thirtieth  Division. 
Sent  overseas  in  May,  1918.  Caught  in  barrage  while  on 
duty  and  was  killed  instantly,  August  2,  1918.  Buried  at 
Four  Elms,  near  Paperinghe,  Belgium. 

Robert   Silas  Monk,  navy,   son  of 
^t  Thomas    and    Ida    Monk,    was    born 

BlBfi^  August   10,    1890,   near  Marengo,    hid. 

High     school     student.       Enlisted     in 
■  United  States  Navy  in  May,  1906.    As- 

signed to  Medical  Department  on  hos- 
pital   ship.      Relief.      Was    with    the 

N* Tinted  Slates  fleet  in  the  world  cruise 

in  1908.  Served  on  the  Columbia 
when  acting  as  convoy  for  the  transports.  Died  August 
10,  1918,  at  Chelsea,  Massachusetts.  Buried  at  Chelsea, 
Massachusetts.  Survived  by  widow,  Marie  Ferguson  Monk, 
who  served  with  her  husband  in  the  navy  as  yeomanette. 


Roy  Lee  Hanover,  son  of  James  and 
Cresa  Hanover,  was  born  December  30,  1892. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  A,  2nd  Infantry, 
Indiana  National  Guard  (Company  A,  152nd 
Infantry)  July  17,  1917.  Sent  to  Jefferson- 
ville,  Indiana.  Sailed  for  France  July  7, 
1918.  Killed  in  action  July  29,  1918,  at 
Chauteau  Thierry,  France.  Place  of  burial 
unknown. 


Thomas  Lewis  Morgan,  sergeant,  son  of  Hiram  and  Margaret 
Morgan,  was  born  October  19,  1900,  near  Taswell.  He  enlisted  in 
the  regular  army,  May  7,  1917,  at  Louisville.  Moved  to  Fort  Thomas, 
Kentucky,  and  then  to  Camp  Syracuse,  New  York.  Sailed  for  Europe 
October  18,  1917.  Assigned  to  Company  H,  Sixteenth  Infantry, 
First  Division.     Killed  in  action  November  7,  1918.     Buried  in  the 


510 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


American    cemetery    No.    1203,    Lelanne    Sedan,    Ardennes,    Franc?. 
Cited  for  gallantry  in  action. 

Allen  Gordon  Myers,  son  of  Doc- 
tor Joseph  and  Annie  Myers,  was  born 
in  Alton,  Indiana,  December  1,  1895. 
School  teacher.  Entered  United  States 
service  by  volunteering  April  19,  1917, 
at  Indianapolis.  Sent  to  Jefferson 
Barracks,  Missouri.  Later  he  was  sent 
to  El  Paso,  Texas,  and  assigned  to 
Company  A,  Sixteenth  Infantry,  First 
Division.  Sailed  for  Europe  June  14,  1917.  Killed  in 
action  July  21,  1918,  in  Aisne-Marne  offensive.  Buried  at 
Plaisy,  Aisne,  France.  Cited  for  gallantry  in  action  and 
meritorious  conduct.  Later  the  body  was  brought  home 
and  buried  at  Alton  May,  1921. 


1 

r^ 

I 

1 

, 

1 

1 

lfc_ 

^ 

Charles  Pittman,  private,  son  of 
George  and  Alice  Pittman,  was  born 
November  17,  1892,  at  Marengo,  Indi- 
ana. He  was  a  steel  worker.  Entered 
service  June  24,  1918,  at  English,  In- 
diana. Sent  to  Camp  Taylor.  As- 
signed to  Fifty-fifth  Company,  Four- 
teenth Battalion,  159th  Depot  Brigade. 
Later  he  was  sent  to  Fort  Benjamin 
Harrison,  Indiana.  There  he  was  assigned  to  Company  B, 
Twenty-second  Engineers'  Corps.  Sent  overseas  Septem- 
ber 13,  1917.  He  was  drowned  while  bathing  in  the  Meuse 
River  March  27,  1918.  Burial  Grave  191,  Cemetery  614. 
Survived  by  his  widow,  Ercle  Brumfield  Pittman. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS 


511 


March  18,  1919. 

buried  at  Bethany  Union,  Indiana 


James  William  Polen,  son  of  James 
and  Jane  Polen,  was  born  October  6, 
1887.  Entered  service  May  6,  1918,  at 
English.  Sent  to  Camp  Taylor  and 
Fort  Benjamin  Harrison.  There  he 
was  assigned  to  the  Thirty-fourth  En- 
gineers' Headquarters.  Sent  overseas 
August  16,  1912.  Returned  to  United 
States  January  20,  1919.  Discharged 
Died  June  12,  1920,  of  tuberculosis  and 


marines. 


Leroy  Randall,  son  of  Charles  and 
Sarah  E.  Randall,  was  born  April  15, 
1890,  near  Marengo.  Entered  service 
September  19,  1917,  at  English.  Sent 
to  Camp  Taylor.  Went  over  seas  in 
May,  1918,  and  was  killed  in  action 
October  10,  1918,  on  Ypres  front. 
Buried  in  the  American  cemetery, 
Bony-Aisne,  France. 


Alonzo  Joseph  Smith,  son  of 
Stevens  and  Linda  Smith,  was  born 
October  4,  1890,  at  DePauw,  Indiana. 
Moved  to  Crawford  County  in  1908. 
Entered  the  service  in  1917  at  Louis- 
ville. Later  he  was  discharged  and 
re-enlisted  July  28,  1917,  and  was  sent 
to  the  Marine  Corps.  He  went  over- 
seas with  the  first  contingent  of  the 
Was  wounded   four  times.     Sent  back  to  the 


512 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


United  States  as  an  invalid.  Died  of  pneumonia  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1920,  at  Camp  Meade  shipyards,  Pennsylvania. 
He  was  buried  at  Milltown. 


Carl  Smith,  son  of  John  and  Belle 
Smith,  was  born  at  Leavenworth 
March  25,  1893.  Entered  the  United 
States  service  at  Louisville  July  28, 
1917.  Trained  at  Fort  Thomas,  Ken- 
tucky, Camp  Holt,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Camp  Green,  North  Carolina.  Sent 
overseas  May  20,  1918.  Assigned  to 
Company  G,  Sixty-ninth  Indiana  In- 
fantry, Fourth  Division.  Died  of  wounds  on  November 
11,  1918,  which  he  had  received  at  Meuse  Argonne  offensive. 
He  was  buried  at  Argonne  American  cemetery,  Romagne, 
France. 


1918. 
widow 


Clarence  Alve  Stroud,  son  of  Will- 
iam and  Mary  Stroud,  was  born  March 
13,  1894,  near  Temple.  He  entered  the 
service  September  19,  1917.  Sent  to 
Camp  Taylor  and  later  to  Camp  Pike, 
Arkansas.  He  went  overseas  in  1918. 
Was  assigned   to   Company   L,   Fifty- 

mmk  mm  eighth  [nfantry,  Fourth  Division. 
Was  killed  in  action  on  November  11, 

Place  of  burial  is  unknown.     He  is  survived  by  a 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS 


513 


Lloyd  Thompson,  son  of  John  and 
Eliza  Thompson,  was  born  June  12, 
1901,  in  Washburn,  Woodford  County, 
Illinois.  He  moved  to  Crawford  Coun- 
ty in  1902.  He  was  trained  at  the 
Great  Lakes  Naval  Station.  Promoted 
to  second  class  seaman  after  one 
month's  service.     Died   of  pneumonia 


October 


Marengo. 


1918.     He  was  buried   at 


Arthur  Roscoe  Weathers,  son  of 
Alonzo    and    Rebecca    Weathers,    was 
mr^    §£.  born   October  20,   1892,   near  Marengo, 

Crawford  County.     A  steeple  painter. 
Entered  service  June  24,  1918;  at  Eng- 
lish.     Sent   to    Camp   Sherman,    Ohio. 
Assigned  to  Company  B,  334th  Infan- 
try,    Eighty-fourth     Division.       Sent 
overseas    August,    1918.      Transferred 
to  Sixteenth  Infantry,  First  Division.     Served  in  Meuse 
Argonne  offensive.     Died  of  pneumonia  October  21,  1918. 
Buried  at  Brozeaux  Meuse,  France. 

The  boys  who  gave  their  lives  for  democracy  were  bur- 
ied overseas,  but  later  several  were  brought  home. 

The  body  of  Louis  Haycock,  who  was  killed  in  action 
September  26,  1918,  while  fighting  in  a  hand-to-hand 
bayonet  charge  at  Forges,  in  the  Verdun  sector,  was  re- 
turned to  English.  The  funeral  was  held  at  Mount  Ster- 
ling church  under  the  auspices  of  the  Red  Men  Lodge  of 
Marengo,  Leonard  Cummins  officiating. 


514  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

A   MEMORIAL   FOR   A   CRAWFORD    COUNTY   HERO 

Among  the  names  written  on  Indiana  University's 
Honor  Roll  in  the  World  War  and  presented  to  the  Uni- 
versity on  a  bronze  tablet  with  impressive  ceremony  was 
the  name  of  Allen  Gordon  Myers  of  Alton.  He  was  killed 
July  21,  1918,  near  Berzy-lesec,  France.  He  volunteered 
for  service. 

The  September  copy  of  the  Crawford  County  Demo- 
crat for  1921  contains  this  account:  "World  War  Hero 
Who  made  Supreme  Sacrifice  Laid  to  Rest  at  Milltown. 
The  body  of  Norman  G.  Stonecipher,  who  was  killed  in 
action  fighting  for  his  country  in  France,  arrived  in  Mill- 
town  Saturday  evening  and  was  interred  in  the  Milltown 
cemetery  Sunday  afternoon,  Rev.  A.  J.  Oster,  pastor  of 
the  church,  in  charge.  The  obituary  read :  Norman  G. 
Stonecipher  was  born  April  17,  1894,  and  was  killed  in 
battle  of  the  Argonne  Forest  October  11,  1918,  age  24 
years,  5  months  and  24  days.  He  was  drafted  October  20, 
1917.  He  fought  in  the  battles  of  Chateau  Thierry,  St. 
Mihiel  and  Argonne  Forest  in  which  he  was  killed.  The 
military  funeral  was  under  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Legion  of  Corydon. 

While  these  are  the  ones  whose  lives  were  lost,  yet  one 
can  not  say  how  much  others  suffered,  many  of  whom  had 
their  health  ruined  by  exposure. 

Herschel  Rainforth  of  Fredonia  was  captured  by  the 
Germans  and  held  a  prisoner  for  a  long  time.  While  a 
captive  he  was  fed  on  a  thin  soup  made  out  of  cabbage 
leaves. 

Willoughby    Wiser    of    Tower    was    reported    missing. 


THE  COUNTY  IN  LATER  YEARS  515 

Later  he  was  reported  wounded.  After  about  two  years 
he  was  sent  back  to  the  United  States. 

Henry  Knight  of  Mifflin  was  wounded.  Later  he  had 
an  operation  performed  which  left  him  partially  disabled 
for  life. 

Besides  these  many  more  have  suffered  in  the  trenches 
and  on  the  high  seas. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
By  W.  S.  Ross,  Jr. 

Anyone  taking  a  steamboat  ride  down  the  beautiful 
Ohio  from  Louisville  will  remember  a  bend  called  the 
Horseshoe.  At  its  beginning  down  in  behind  some  hills 
on  a  little  bottom  is  Leavenworth,  Indiana.  Here  a  few 
years  ago  in  a  small  court  house  was  located  the 
county  seat  of  Crawford  County.  At  this  time  William 
S.  Ross,  Sr.,  was  clerk  for  eight  years.  During  his  term 
a  boy  was  born,  a  junior.  The  home  was  directly  upon  the 
banks  of  the  river.  His  mother  was  May  Conn,  a  daughter 
of  Albert  Conn,  who  was  a  musician  of  much  ability  and 
a  bandmaster  under  General  Lew  Wallace.  When  the 
term  of  office  expired  the  family  moved  to  a  farm  near 
Milltown.  Here  the  boy,  always  interested  in  history, 
grew  up.  His  dreams  were  always  of  soldiers  and 
biographies  of  men  who  had  done  things  in  all  walks  of 
life.     And  the  World  War  came. 

So  many  people  have  come  in  direct  contact  with  this 
past  war  that  it  is  only  natural  for  them  to  want  to 
know  about  it.  Practically  everything  so  far  told  and 
written  has  been  upon  what  has  been  seen,  the  political 
side,  the  people  of  Europe  and  other  countries  involved, 
that  it  may  be  better  to  write  upon  something  a  little  dif- 

516 


THE  WORLD  WAR  517 

ferent.  .Mothers,  fathers,  sisters,  sweethearts,  friends  and 
near  relatives  surely  are  wondering  what  are  some  of  the 
inner  thoughts  of  the  boys.  What  struggles  within  them- 
selves did  they  have  to  overcome  to  do  such  wonderful 
things  and  keep  the  good  old  American  smile  on  their 
faces  known  the  world  over?  The  smile  that  wouldn't  come 
off.  The  smile  that  was  on  their  face  when  they  told 
Mother  good-bye  and  ' '  Never  to  worry,  Mother,  I  '11  come 
back.     First  I  must  be  a  man  at  whatever  cost." 

Men  either  went  by  volunteering  or  by  selection.  But 
either  way  there  was  a  fight  within  one's  self.  The  papers 
were  full  of  awful  slaughters,  of  the  powerful  guns  that 
could  shoot  so  far  and  burst  with  such  frightful  destruc- 
tion. Of  course  such  would  make  anyone  feel  afraid.  The 
time  to  go  came.  Many  boys  had  a  chance  for  deferred 
classification,  but  how  many  took  advantage  of  it  compared 
to  the  number  that  went  ?  This  was  something  that  had  to 
be  decided.  Very  few  made  any  appeal  for  it.  Am  I  a 
coward  and  an  American,  too?  No,  the  two  do  not  go 
hand  in  hand.     So  off  to  camp  I  go. 

After  reporting  at  the  local  board  in  a  case  like  this 
and  giving  your  oath,  troop  trains  were  sent  along  to  take 
you  away.  How  many  people,  if  they  had  not  known  where 
their  boys  were  going,  would  have  ever  guessed  by  the 
boys'  actions?  Before  I  left  home  I  thought  I  was  going 
to  war,  yet  long  before  I  reached  camp  I  had  a  hard  time 
trying  to  convince  myself  that  I  wasn't  going  to  a  picnic. 
We  sang,  shouted  and  waved  at  every  one  along  the 
way,  had  good  eats  backed  up  by  a  ravenous  appetite. 
Long  before  we  were  ready  we  arrived  at  Camp  Sherman, 
Ohio,  June  24th. 


518  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Everybody  out !  As  I  was  captain  of  the  boys  from  our 
county  I  had  to  see  that  all  were  present,  hand  in  my 
papers  and  fall  in  a  rookie.  We  were  lined  up  single 
file,  marched  past  a  place  where  ponchos  were  thrown  at  us, 
not  handed  to  us,  ordered  to  be  quick,  lugged  along  our 
grips  and  led  into  a  building  where  army  doctors  soon 
examined  our  throats  to  see  that  we  had  no  diphtheria. 
Out  of  here  we  went  to  our  barracks  for  our  first  inspec- 
tion of  our  belongings  to  see  that  no  one  had  any  firearms 
nor  booze.  None  was  found  on  any  of  the  thirty-two 
Crawford  County  boys.  And  after  a  few  remarks  by  the 
commissioned  officer  in  charge  we  were  told  to  shift  for 
ourselves,  line  up — everything  was  line  up  from  start  to 
finish — get  a  steel  cot,  then  a  straw  tick,  and  our  two  army 
blankets,  and  go  to  bed.  Good  thing  it  wasn't  go  to  sleep, 
because  we  didn't  have  much  of  that.  At  eleven  o'clock 
the  lights  were  put  out  and  everyhing  got  so  still  and 
strange  that  it  seemed  as  if  the  very  stillness  itself  would 
crush  you.  And  your  heart  beats  were  so  strong  you  often 
imagined  being  moved  by  them  around  the  room.  And 
thoughts  of  Mother,  and  boyhood  days  so  dear  and  all  your 
ones  at  home  and  I'm  wondering  and  hoping  Mother  is  all 
right  and  that  she  is  not  crying  herself  to  sleep,  for  I  know 
she  is.  No  thoughts  of  the  picnic  now.  Finally  some 
waves  of  sleep  and  we  knew  no  more  till  next  morning. 

Everybody  up.  Fall  in  outside.  You're  in  the  army 
now.  Reveille.  Fall  in.  Company,  attention !  Reveille 
over.  Follow  me,  shake  a  leg,  get  you  a  mess  kit  and 
get  your  chow.  Talk  about  mixed  feed  and  spilling  coffee 
and  being  awkward,  a  fellow  felt  like  he  never  could  learn 
how  to  handle  his  outfit.     Chow  over,  every  boy  had  to  do 


THE  WORLD  WAR  519 

his  own  washing  of  his  kit  and  that  funny  feeling  of  being 
able  to  do  everything  for  himself.  Put  your  mess  kit  away 
and  everybody  be  ready  to  fall  out  in  five  minutes.  What 
next?  Another  company  who  had  been  there  a  short  time 
knew  what  was  coming.  Wait  till  you  get  that  shot !  Oh, 
man !  They  faint  and  they  drag  them  out  up  there.  You  '11 
never  go  through  it.  And  on  the  way  boys  would  kid  us. 
Feed  that  straw  hat  to  the  mules.  Nobody  was  in  step  and 
we  all  went  hooching  along  just  any  old  way  trying  to 
keep  together  as  best  we  could.  Three  shots  and  three 
vaccinations  within  three  weeks  with  many  a  sick  boy  and 
with  chasing  around  to  various  army  departments  we  were 
then  assigned  to  regular  regiments,  given  our  khaki,  began 
the  real  change  from  a  civilian  into  an  American  soldier. 
Two  of  the  boys  and  myself  were  put  into  the  Engineers. 
I  was  in  B  company  for  a  while  and  attached  to  the  band. 
Later  I  was  transferred  to  headquarters  and  in  the 
mounted  section,  trained  for  scouting,  night  patrol,  road 
mapping  and  landscape  sketching. 

A  scout  to  be  successful  must  be  quick,  not  easily  lost, 
and  good  in  a  hand  to  hand  fight  with  bayonet  or  trench 
knives,  for  it  is  against  orders  to  fire  his  gun,  and  he 
must  get  his  information  and  get  back  to  headquarters 
with  it  as  soon  as  possible.  He  must  be  able  to  withstand 
all  kinds  of  hardships  and  not  be  fatigued.  He  must 
draw  maps  of  pikes  and  railroads,  giving  their  names  and 
direction,  blow  up  bridges  or  find  a  place  where  one  can 
be  built.  Make  a  landscape  sketch  of  the  country,  showing 
woods,  valleys,  or  hills,  and  indicate  positions  for  infantry, 
artiller}^  or  where  cavalry  can  maneuver.  In  the  daytime 
he  must  travel  on  the  high  places  so  as  to  see  and  not  be 


520  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

seen.  At  night  he  must  keep  off  of  the  high  places  so  as 
not  to  silhouette  his  body  to  the  sky  and  be  seen  by  the 
enemy.  He  must  not  come  out  of  a  wooded  place  the  same 
as  where  he  entered  unless  he  wishes  to  be  captured  by  a 
lurking  enemy  scout.  He  may  be  either  mounted  or  on 
foot.  Sometimes  he  is  ordered  to  go  into  the  enemy 
trenches,  capture  two  or  three  men,  and  do  it  with  the  least 
noise  possible.  There  may  be  not  more  than  two  or  three 
men  with  him  to  do  it.  In  this  way  different  scouting 
parties  along  the  line  will  be  able  to  find  out  how  many 
divisions  are  opposing  your  front.  It  is  often  necessary  to 
lie  in  one  place  a  long  time  or  to  crawl  along  only  by  the 
use  of  your  arms  and  wiggling  your  body,  for  you  must 
take  the  other  side  by  surprise  and  before  they  can  give 
the  alarm. 

One,  two,  three  and  four  you  heard  everywhere  all  over 
the  camp.  The  boys  were  given  practice  marches,  bayonet 
work,  moving  pictures  for  squad  formation  and  how  to 
obey  commands  without  hesitation,  athletics,  such  as  box- 
ing to  be  quick,  same  as  in  baseball,  running  and  wrestling 
for  endurance,  pontoon  building  and  tearing  down  for 
speed,  and  practise  at  the  rifle  range  where  practically 
every  boy  soon  could  hit  a  bull's  eye  whether  at  a  hundred 
or  six  hundred  yards,  whether  slow  fire  or  rapid  fire,  when 
he  must  put  in  ten  shots  in  a  minute. 

Every  boy  was  carefully  taught  how  to  roll  a  nice  neat 
pack  and  especially  how  to  wear  his  gas  mask.  Inspections 
were  held  every  week  to  see  that  all  rifles  were  kept  free 
from  rust  and  dust,  physical  inspections  to  see  that  your 
teeth  were  sound  and  clean,  your  hair  cut  properly  and 
your  body  kept  fit  for  a  soldier  to  do  the  best  that  was 


THE  WORLD  WAR  521 

in  him;  bunk  inspection  to  see  that  you  kept  your  equip- 
ment there  in  first  class  order  and  had  no  uninvited 
"guests"  who  might  annoy  you  when  you  should  sleep 
sound,  cooties,  I  guess. 

"When  do  we  go  from  here?  I  want  to  go  somewhere, 
anywhere;  this  is  killing  me,"  you  heard  every  day  now. 
"Some  one  said  we  would  get  our  0.  D.  S.  soon.  We'll  get 
to  move  right  away.  They  can't  move  too  soon  for  me." 
And  we  did  move.  August  24th  troop  trains  began  mov- 
ing in  for  us  and  we  were  up  long  before  sunrise  rolling 
packs  and  wondering  what  the  future  held  for  us.  You 
never  know  in  the  army  one  minute  what  you  have  to  do 
the  next,  for  all  moves  are  kept  secret  as  near  as  possible. 
You  get  a  sharp  command  to  "fall  in."  You  yank  up 
your  pack  like  it  weighs  about  a  pound,  thinking  some- 
thing's doing;  get  ready  to  move  out  right  away.  Stand 
there  for  about  fifteen  minutes  strictly  at  attention.  Then 
you  get  another  order  "at  ease,"  but  do  not  remove  packs. 
Search  me  what  is  meant  at  ease  with  that  pack.  "Com- 
pany, attention  ! "  "  Forward  march  !  Halt ! ' '  You  stand 
then  another  fifteen  minutes.  Some  officer  looks  around, 
says  "at  ease."  Another  five  minutes.  "Company,  atten- 
tion!" Another  ten  minutes.  You  don't  move  a  peg. 
"Halt!  Rest!  Fall  out!  but  don't  lose  your  formation. 
Unsling  packs ;  we  may  be  here  for  ten  minutes  ! ' '  You  fall 
out,  unsling  packs,  let  out  a  big  puff  of  relief  and  get  ready 
to  rest.  About  the  time  a  minute  has  passed  and  you  get 
comfortably  fixed,  order  comes,  "Sling  packs!  Fall  in! 
Company,  attention !  Forward  hooch  ! ' '  You  circle  around 
about  half  a  mile  to  get  in  line  with  your  train  which  is 
only  a  hundred  feet  away.     The  ones  in  the  last  squads 


522  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

have  to  run  to  take  up  the  slack  of  the  front  ones.  You 
are  halted  and  you  feel  like  your  pack  weighs  a  ton,  for 
you  have  your  whole  home  with  you.  Your  rifle  and  bay- 
onet and  scabbard,  your  belt,  your  canteen,  full  of  water, 
your  mess  kit,  knife,  fork  and  spoon  and  drinking  cup; 
rolled  up  in  your  shelter  half  you  have  your  blanket,  one 
or  two  suits  of  underwear,  an  extra  shirt,  three  or  four 
pairs  of  socks,  hairbrush  and  comb,  soap,  two  towels,  tooth- 
brush and  paste,  shaving  outfit,  extra  shoe  laces,  a  can  of 
dubbin  for  your  shoes;  outside  you  have  your  raincoat, 
overcoat,  extra  pair  of  hobnails  and  then  should  you  hap- 
pen to  be  unlucky  enough  you  had  your  gas  mask  and  hel- 
met before  you  crossed.  If  you  thought  then  you  didn't 
have  enough  along  for  your  comfort,  you  might  get  a  lunch 
or  any  other  articles  you  wanted  to  carry.  Some  say  it 
weighs  eighty-five  pounds.  I  think  their  guess  might  pos- 
sibly be  wrong.  First  you  stand  on  one  foot  like  a  stork, 
then  on  the  other,  then  both;  maybe  you  can  hook  your 
rifle  under  it  some  way  till  it  falls  down;  then  you  lean 
over,  thinking  maybe  that  will  help  some.  By  this  time 
some  embarkation  officer  has  checked  the  count  and  you 
think  you  are  surely  ready  to  get  on  the  train.  It  is  now 
eleven  o'clock  and  you  started  out  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  you  look  and  there's  your  barracks  not  over 
a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  away  from  the  train !  The  cars 
before  you  fill  slowly  and  finally  your  time  comes.  You 
file  in,  bumping  every  door  or  seat  as  you  go  along  till  you 
find  your  place.  You  let  all  holds  loose,  unloosen  your 
things,  your  pack  goes  one  way,  your  canteen  another, 
your  knife  and  fork  and  spoon  rattle  out,  your  rifle  falls 
over  in  a  corner,  your  bayonet  scabbard  and  belt  go  just 


THE  WORLD  WAR  523 

the  opposite  and  you  come  pretty  near  letting  out  a  big 
whoop.  I'll  tell  you  just  one  thing  you  do  think,  "Down 
with  the  kaiser,  the  cuss  that  caused  me  all  this  trouble." 
And  that's  letting  yourself  off  rather  easily. 

On  our  trip  we  wrent  through  Columbus,  Ohio.  At 
Cleveland  the  Red  Cross  greeted  us  with  good  things  that 
brought  again  to  us  home  ties  and  again  at  Buffalo.  Sun- 
day we  rode  for  thirty-five  miles  along  Lake  Seneca  and 
at  noon  in  Sayre,  Pennsylvania,  our  officers  allowed  us  an 
hour's  layover  where  we  took  a  swim  in  the  Susquehanna 
River  which  brought  back  to  us  happy  remembrances  of 
boyhood  days.  It  gave  us  relief  from  cramped  limbs  and 
better  thoughts  for  the  remainder  of  our  ride.  The  rest  of 
the  Valley  trip  was  over  the  mountains  and  through  the 
Lehigh  Valley,  revealing  scenery  that  many  of  us  had  never 
seen  before  and  wTe  were  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  new 
sights.  Monday  morning  wre  awoke  in  Jersey  City, 
marched  a  short  distance,  loaded  on  several  different  ferry 
boats  and  were  taken  under  some  of  New  York's  big 
bridges  over  to  Long  Island,  boarded  a  train  and  went  out 
to  Camp  Mills  for  a  short  stay  of  ten  days.  While  here 
we  were  called  out  for  battalion  parades,  given  a  few  extra 
touches  on  our  training,  and  practically  every  man  in 
the  regiment  had  a  chance  for  a  forty-eight  hour  pass  to 
Xew  York  or  adjoining  cities.  Many  took  their  first  dip 
at  the  beaches  as  most  of  our  boys  were  from  Kentucky, 
Indiana,  Illinois  or  Ohio. 

Now  was  to  come  our  first  big  adventure.  The  sub- 
marines were  doing  a  horrible  business  and  there  is  noth- 
ing pleasant  about  a  watery  grave.  As  usual  the  boys 
were  eager  to  be  on  the  move  and  our  spirits  were  higher 


524  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

than  ever  when  on  September  8,  on  Sunday  morning,  we 
had  orders  to  roll  packs  and  police  up  our  tents  and  leave 
them  clean  and  in  order  for  the  next  to  come.  We  went 
back  practically  the  same  route  as  before  by  train  and 
ferry  boats  to  Hoboken  where  the  Red  Cross  (we'll  never 
forget  it)  was  ready  for  us  with  its  cakes  and  sandwiches 
like  at  home,  and  hot  chocolate,  showing  us  the  ones  at 
home  were  with  us  to  the  very  last.  Here  we  were  given 
two  cards  each,  one  to  send  to  Mother  and  one  for  our 
sweetheart  or  wife.  Thoughts  of  home  came  back  to  us 
and  all  those  near  and  dear,  and  while  I  did  not  see  a  tear, 
our  hearts  were  laden  and  sad;  the  boys  suddenly  became 
quieter  and  hardly  anyone  spoke  because  every  soldier 
knew  what  the  other  lad  had  on  his  mind.  The  order  was 
given  to  get  in  line  single  file  about  four  o'clock  and  the 
ones  at  the  head  of  the  line  began  slowly  going  up  the 
gangplank  of  an  English  boat,  the  Scandinavian.  It  did 
not  look  big  at  all  when  you  thought  about  it  and  the  miles 
of  salt  water,  and  of  the  freedom  of  our  lives  heretofore. 
Here  we  were  ready  to  be  cooped  up  like  so  many  animals 
and  probably  just  as  helpless  in  the  face  of  those  terrible 
instruments  of  war,  the  torpedoes.  Can  we  stand  it  with 
barely  elbow  room?  It  was  a  jam  for  an  hour  or  more  and 
a  long  wait  for  orders  until  the  officers  got  us  straightened 
out  as  to  our  bunking  place.  This  boat  had  no  arrange- 
ment for  space.  Everything  seemed  to  be  in  the  way  of 
everything  else.  Most  of  us  were  to  sleep  in  hammocks, 
one  soldier's  head  one  way  and  the  one  next  to  you  with 
his  head  the  same  direction  as  your  feet  and  every  fellow 's 
hammock  butted  up  against  that  of  his  buddy.  When  the 
time  for  chow  came  there  was  such  a  congestion  that  you 


THE  WORLD  WAR  525 

could  only  go  in  one  direction  for  the  mess  hall,  and  as 
no  system  for  going  had  been  arranged,  many  of  us  got 
nothing  but  the  smell.  I  '11  tell  you  there  is  some  difference 
in  cooking  and  we  never  did  get  used  to  that  difference 
while  going  over.  The  boat  remained  anchored  that  night. 
The  next  morning,  the  ninth  day  of  the  ninth  month, 
at  the  ninth  hour,  we  felt  our  boat  making  a  slight  move- 
ment and  all  that  could  rushed  to  either  side  to  find  we  were 
slowly  moving  away.  All  the  boys  were  watching  the 
Statue  of  Liberty  to  bid  her  good-bye  and  to  breathe  to  her 
to  keep  good  watch  while  we  were  away.  As  we  went 
steaming  slowly  out  other  ships  began  to  move,  to  go  either 
ahead  of  us  or  to  follow  behind.  Little  submarine  chasers 
were  running  swiftly  here  and  there.  Aeroplanes  were 
going  in  all  directions,  first  away  ahead  and  then  back  of 
us  and  directly  over  us  to  keep  on  the  watchout  for  any 
tricks  the  submarines  might  have  planned  for  us.  You 
could  scarcely  feel  any  motion  of  the  ship  so  slowly  did  it 
move,  and  it  was  not  until  about  five  o'clock  that  we  lost 
sight  of  land.  Then  it  was  that  you  felt  like  you  were 
entirely  forsaken  and  hopelessly  lost.  The  lonesomeness 
that  came  over  all  of  the  boys  made  them  talk  barely  above 
a  whisper.  We  looked  till  our  eyes  were  worn  out  for  the 
last  little  speck  of  the  U.  S.  A.  We  could  no  longer  hear 
the  whirring  of  the  aeroplanes  for  they  had  now  turned 
back,  and  that  made  it  so  much  stiller.  It  was  not  long 
till  darkness  would  be  upon  us.  The  port  holes  would  all 
have  to  be  closed  soon.  There  must  be  no  lights  whatever 
upon  deck,  and  no  one  would  even  be  allowed  to  strike  a 
match  or  smoke  for  fear  it  would  be  seen.  The  only  con- 
solation we  had,  and  it  helped  more  than  anything,  there 


526  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

were  sixteen  ships,  including  chasers  and  one  battleship, 
all  going  together  and  working  for  the  same  end — to  cross 
the  ocean  and  make  it  in  safety.  Every  soldier  mnst 
always  have  his  lifebelt  on  to  be  ready  at  any  minnte  in 
case  his  ship  was  hit  and  in  a  sinking  condition.  Bnt 
should  a  transport  be  hit  all  the  other  boats  must  get 
away  out  of  danger  as  soon  as  possible.  This  seems  like 
abandoning  the  boys  to  their  fate,  yet  it  was  the  safest 
plan  for  the  largest  number  of  boys  to  save  those  on  the 
other  transports.  The  chasers  would  come  to  our  rescue. 
They  darted  here  and  there  and  can  make  time  almost 
like  a  passenger  train.  They  were  better  armed  and  could 
move  so  they  could  hardly  be  hit  by  a  torpedo.  All  this 
time  the  boys  were  wondering  how  submarines  could  be 
prevented  from  coming  up  and  sinking  us  any  time  they 
wished.  Every  sailor  that  night  had  a  bunch  around  him 
asking  him  a  thousand  questions  as  to  how  it  could  be  done. 
We  found  out  that  it  took  a  submarine  nine  minutes  after 
coming  to  the  top  and  sending  off  its  torpedo,  to  submerge 
again.  By  this  time  some  one  on  watch  would  sight  it  and 
a  well  aimed  shot  would  put  an  end  to  the  submarine.  Just 
about  dark  the  transports  began  blowing  their  mournful 
whistles  for  the  purpose  of  getting  signals  for  the  night 
and  we  thought  why  in  the  world  are  they  doing  that ; 
they'll  be  calling  every  submarine  for  miles  around  to 
pay  us  a  visit.  Do  you  hardly  think  you  would  have  a 
pleasant  night's  sleep?  Strange  to  say,  the  night  time  is 
the  safer,  although  your  feelings  stoutly  denied  that.  The 
eye  of  the  submarine  is  no  good  without  sunlight.  The 
periscope  can  not  be  used  for  there  must  be  rays  to  be 
reflected.      As   a   result   the   submarine   must   run   on   the 


THE  WORLD  WAR  527 

surface  and  the  conning  tower  must  be  used.  Here  again 
the  chasers  would  soon  find  the  submarine,  making  quick 
work  of  it. 

The  next  day  the  most  exciting  thing  was  Hooverizing. 
And  so  it  went  on  during  all  of  the  voyage,  some  of  the 
boys  were  daily  breaking  Hoover's  kind  admonition.  Yet 
no  one  was  arrested  or  put  in  the  brig.  People  at  home 
were  saving  and  doing  all  they  could  to  win  the  war.  Here 
and  there  you  would  see  some  standing  like  a  statue  but 
hardly  the  same  color  in  the  face.  Most  were  yellow  or 
dark  green.  Try  as  they  would  they  couldn't  do  it.  They 
had  to  go  back  on  Hoover.  "Save  food  and  Hooverize. 
Two  bits  he  comes."  The  seasick  soldier  would  look  dag- 
gers at  you  as  though  it  wTere  not  safe  for  anyone  near.  All 
over  and  a  smile  all  over  his  face.  "Ah  boys,  she's  tough, 
but  I'm  feeling  fine  now." 

The  same  routine  lasted  during  the  entire  crossing. 
First  thing,  chow.  Then  the  ship  must  be  cleaned.  Next 
came  exercise  and  time  off  for  rest  till  noon.  Chow  again. 
Possibly  fire  drill  and  boat  drill  for  manning  and  lowering 
the  boats  should  we  be  hit.  During  outside  hours  the  boys 
talked,  forming  new  acquaintances,  read  what  few  books 
they  could  find,  letters  to  loved  ones  and  lined  up  at  the 
ship's  canteen  for  oranges,  apples,  candies  until  the  sup- 
ply was  exhausted  or  their  money  was  all  spent.  It  seemed 
nothing  to  eat  could  satisfy  us.  About  five  o'clock  chow 
once  more.  The  eleventh  day  out  just  at  dusk  the  battle- 
ship left  us  and  we  were  supposed  to  be  met  by  another 
one  from  the  fleet  around  Europe.  By  some  mishap  no 
ship   came  until  the  last  day.     This   caused   considerable 


528  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

comment.  At  one  time  our  convoy  was  as  far  north  as 
Alaska  in  its  zigzag  course. 

The  night  of  the  twelfth  day  the  waves  dashed  so  high 
they  went  over  the  sides  of  our  ship  and  no  one  could  stay 
on  deck.  The  ship  would  go  up  and  down  some  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  and  at  times  it  seemed  that  your  body  did  not 
want  to  be  assembled.  Your  stomach  wanted  to  go  up 
when  the  ship  went  down,  your  head  felt  like  it  was  tight, 
and  your  seadog  legs  wanted  to  go  right  through  your 
body  when  the  ship  was  going  up  and  abandon  your  body 
at  other  motions  of  the  vessel.  To  relieve  this  we  piled  in 
our  hammocks,  'anging  on  a  'ook,  as  our  English  sailors 
say  it.  Later  the  lights  went  out  below  and  finally  we 
could  sleep. 

About  four  o'clock  next  morning  some  one  yelled 
! '  Land  !  Land  !  I  believe  I  see  the  coast  of  Ireland ! "  So 
it  later  proved  to  be.  All  clay  our  convoy  slowly  steamed 
along  the  Irish  coast.  What  a  great  relief  to  see  good  Old 
soil  once  more,  even  though  we  were  looking  the  biggest 
part  of  the  day  at  nothing  but  rugged  chalk  cliffs.  As 
luck  would  have  it,  it  was  my  time  for  lookout  duty  and  I 
was  stationed  on  the  mate's  cabin  to  watch  for  "subs." 
Some  chasers  thought  they  had  sighted  one  and  eleven 
shots  were  fired  some  distance  behind  us,  but  we  never 
learned  what  the  result  was.  From  my  post  I  could 
£ee  in  all  directions.  This  was  a  source  of  much  pleasure 
to  me  because  we  were  now  going  between  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  the  sights  here  proving  to  be  the  most  beautiful 
of  any  I  was  to  see.  The  climate  here  is  mild  so  much  of 
the  time  and  the  air  so  damp  and  foggy  that  practically 
all  of  the  land  is  green  with  grass,  even  the  very  steep 


THE  WORLD  WAR  529 

slopes  except  where  there  is  solid  rocks.  The  fences  are 
so  arranged  that  the  slopes  leading  from  the  channel  look 
like  a  great  checkerboard  with  here  a  green  field  and  next 
to  it  a  golden  one  where  rye  had  just  been  cut.  Down  at 
the  very  edge  of  the  water  were  castles  that  I  called  dream 
castles.  Bobbing  here  and  there  were  small  sail  boats 
skimming  along  on  the  water.  The  boys  were  once 
more  gay  and  making  merry  as  if  going  to  a  picnic  sure 
enough.  No  one  could  think  of  war  in  such  an  enticing 
atmosphere.  We  were  now  nearing  the  Clyde  River  and 
our  boats  had  to  go  in  single  file,  for  we  had  come  to  nets 
which  went  across  to  keep  the  submarines  out.  We  now 
knew  we  were  going  to  Glasgow.  Part  of  the  convoy  had 
left  us  to  go  to  Liverpool,  England.  Night  soon  came  on 
and  we  were  very  sorry  we  were  unable  to  see  anything 
while  going  up  the  river.  The  next  morning  when  we 
awoke  we  were  tied  up  at  the  wharf  of  Glasgow,  Scotland. 
We  lay  here  until  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
As  we  walked  down  the  gangplank  every  soldier  was  given 
a  letter  of  welcome  from  King  George  of  England.  After 
a  short  hike  we  boarded  our  first  passenger  train  with  those 
funny  little  coaches  which  we  later  found  could  make 
pretty  good  time.  We  rode  south  through  cities  like  Car- 
lisle, the  outskirts  of  London,  and  the  next  day  at  eleven 
o  'clock  began  a  march  for  our  camp  outside  of  Winchester, 
England,  at  Camp  Wembledown.  Neither  at  camp  nor 
on  the  train  were  any  lights  allowed  at  night.  While  here 
we  were  allowed  no  privileges  outside.  On  the  third  day 
we  were  once  more  on  the  move  for  Southampton.  Just 
before  dark  we  began  moving  out  of  the  harbor  for  our 
trip  across  the  English  Channel.    This  time  we  were  in  no 


530  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

convoy.  Our's  was  a  steamboat  built  in  the  U.  S.  A.  in 
1872,  which  was  now  run  by  the  British  and  guarded  by 
some  chasers.  The  channel  was  as  usual  very  choppy. 
While  in  Southampton  we  were  considerably  sobered  by 
our  first  sight  of  the  wounded  being  unloaded  from  hos- 
pital ships.  Now  the  crossing  was  a  second  dose.  We 
could  see  nothing  and  could  hear  nothing  save  the  steady 
pounding  of  our  boat's  powerful  engines  and  the  splashing 
of  the  waves.  Two-thirds  of  the  boys  couldn't  hold  on  to 
their  stomachs.  About  ten  o'clock  while  upon  deck  I  had 
piled  down  on  a  settee  near  the  rail  and  gone  to  sleep. 
Some  one  woke  me  by  leaning  directly  over  my  face  and 
made  a  noise  with  every  now  and  then  quite  an  accent. 
Without  trying  to  get  up  I  said:  "Be  careful  there, 
Buddy."  "Oop!  All  right  my  Oop !— boy— Oop !  I 
won't — Oop — get  any  of  it — Oop-pon  you."  This  was 
merely  one  incident.  So  many  of  them — Oopea — that  you 
could  scarcely  walk  up  and  down  the  stairs.  By  midnight 
all  of  us  that  could  possibly  pile  down  had  found  a  place 
in  the  main  passenger  cabin,  even  though  many  slept  in  a 
sitting  position  or  on  one  leg,  some  on  shelves,  and  a  few 
on  a  wiggly  table.  By  one  o  'clock  a  wave  too  much  for  the 
table  turned  the  whole  bunch  over  on  the  floor.  The  boys 
under  it  were  jerked  back  to  life  in  a  hurry  by  the  crash. 
The  packs  piled  by  it  were  all  that  saved  the  ones  close  by. 
Of  course  we  all  laughed  to  see  so  many  sprawling  around. 
But  it  didn't  matter  much,  for  the  ones  who  had  been  on 
the  table  straightened  it  up  again  and  crawled  back  just 
as  if  nothing  had  happened.  By  two  o'clock  that  morn- 
ing— but  we  didn't  wake  up  to  know — we  had  landed.    At 


THE  WORLD  WAR  531 

daylight  when  we  got  up  we  were  at  La  Havre,  France, 
September  25,  1918. 

And  so  this  is  France !  First  thing  a  hike  to  some 
camp — supposed  to  be  a  rest  camp — we  never  did  know 
where  beforehand.  As  it  was,  we  hiked  quite  a  distance 
along  the  sea  up  a  hill  that  we  thought  would  never  quit 
rising.  The  houses  were  as  beautiful  as  one  could  wish  to 
see  had  it  not  been  for  those  houses  on  our  backs.  For  what 
seemed  to  us  some  two  hours  we  were  still  climbing  and  at 
last  found  plenty  of  mud  where  we  could  pile  down  in  tents 
ready  for  us.  Each  squad  was  directed  to  its  place,  but  or- 
ders were  given  not  to  unroll  packs  until  told  to  do  so. 
About  one  o  'clock  we  ate  our  dinner  and  then  an  early  sup- 
per when  we  were  told  to  report  back  by  eight  o'clock.  No 
lights  were  allowed  in  the  open.  Trenches  were  close  by 
as  this  place  had  been  attacked  by  air  raids.  Formation 
was  called  at  ten  o'clock  with  packs.  No  rest  camp.  By 
eleven  o'clock  we  were  once  more  on  the  go.  We  got  our 
first  taste  of  cobblestones  marching  down  hill.  The  city 
seemed  as  if  deserted,  no  lights,  noJbody  to  be  seen  any- 
where. By  one  o'clock  we  had  arrived  at  some  railroad 
station.  We  were  to  have  our  first  car  ride  in  French  box 
cars — box  cars  de  luxe — eight  horses  or  forty  men — eight 
cheveux,  forty  hommes.  And  with  our  packs,  our  corn 
willy,  canned  tomatoes  and  canned  beans,  and  a  few  loaves 
of  bread  there  wasn't  much  extra  space.  Here  was  to  be 
our  domain  for  three  days  and  almost  four  nights,  but  we 
didn't  know  it.  When  my  time  came  to  pile  down  my 
place  was  taken  by  an  empty  tomato  box.  The  sliding  door 
was  shut  and  the  train  moving  and  no  place  to  put  the  box. 
What  else  could  a  fellow  do  but  give  the  box  a  sling  and 


532  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

let  somebody  else  take  care  of  it.  A  little  sling  sent  it  to 
one  end  of  the  car.  Some  sleepy  fellow  mumbled  out : 
"  Who  throwed  that  box  ? "  Nobody  answered.  He  passed 
it  on.  The  next  stuttered:  "How'd  this  box  get  here?" 
On  he  passed  it  and  cracked  some  one  on  the  head.  So 
it  went  on  for  about  three  hours  until  about  everyone  had 
been  hit  by  it,  while  I  lay  there  laughing  to  myself.  One 
would  say:  "Why,  here's  that  box.  I  don't  want  it." 
Another  would  yell :  ' '  Here 's  that  old  box  again.  I  '11  bet 
it's  hit  me  fifty  times.  I  don't  want  the  old  thing." 
Everyone  of  them  was  too  sleepy  and  tired  to  throw  it 
outside.  The  last  I  knew  before  going  to  sleep  it  was  still 
making  the  rounds.  Sometimes  we  could  get  off  the  train, 
make  a  rush  for  a  coffee  canteen  and  get  back  on.  We 
soon  lost  our  seadog  legs.  When  the  time  came  to  get  out 
on  the  fourth  night  we  were  pretty  stiff.  We  had  passed 
through  Versailles  and  on  almost  to  Bordeaux.  We  got  off 
at  a  little  place  called  St.  Astier.  As  we  started  out  we 
thought  we  would  rest  in  that  town  but  we  went  around 
and  around  for  a  while,  got  on  the  wrong  road,  had  to 
retrace  our  steps  and  finally  started  out  in  the  country. 
Every  time  we  came  to  a  little  village  of  two  or  three  houses 
we  felt  surely  this  is  the  place.  On  we  would  go  till  finally 
at  twelve  o'clock  we  reached  a  little  town  called  St.  Ger- 
main, to  be  billeted  with  the  French.  My  bed  was  in  what 
was  once  an  old  monastery,  in  a  basement  upon  some  solid 
concrete  where  it  was  plenty  damp  and  cold  after  my 
being  so  sweaty. 

This  was  to  be  our  final  training  for  the  front.  Part 
of  the  division  soon  left  for  there.  Here  we  got  our  first 
taste  of  French  life.     In  less  than  three  weeks  we  moved 


THE  WORLD  WAR  533 

out  in  the  country,  because  many  of  the  boys  were 
dying  of  the  flu.  The  boys  cut  pine  boughs  to  put 
upon  the  ground,  put  ferns  upon  these  and  with  our 
two  blankets  each,  two  men  in  a  pup  tent  had  a  little 
home  to  themselves.  This  wasn't  so  bad,  but  we  were 
put  on  quarter  rations  now,  and  having  no  letters 
from  home  since  September  9th,  made  us  a  little  more 
serious.  We  never  could  get  any  direct  news  from  the 
front,  only  hearsay  and  that  was  very  unreliable.  About 
the  second  week  in  October  our  Colonel  told  us  the  war 
would  end  in  less  than  ninety  days,  yet  we  wouldn't  believe 
it.  During  this  same  month  we  received  three  orders  to  go 
to  the  front.  For  some  unknown  reason  these  were 
changed.  We  supposed  it  was  on  account  of  the  flu.  Our- 
scouting  wrork  went  on,  our  bayonet  training  to  be  ready 
at  any  moment.  For  over  five  weeks  we  stayed  at  St.  Ger- 
main and  this  country  camp  which  we  call  Thistle  Hill. 
Mail  time  was  our  happiest.  We  wrote  home  always  telling 
them  to  write  and  keep  on  writing  even  when  they  did  not 
hear  from  us.  Mail  above  everything  else.  We  didn't 
want  them  to  send  us  candy,  nor  cakes,  nor  sweaters ;  what 
we  wanted  was  mail  and  letters  are  what  will  keep  us 
happy. 

The  first  week  in  November  we  moved  again.  Made  a 
march  of  twelve  kilometers  and  didn't  know  any  better 
than  that  this  time  we  were  going  to  the  front.  We  thought 
anything  was  better  than  to  remain  in  one  place.  I  never 
heard  one  American  soldier  say  he  wasn't  ready  to  go  up. 
Instead  we  moved  by  train  from  a  town,  Mussidan, 
through  Nantes  to  St.  Nazaire  and  were  ordered  to  Mon- 
toir,  a  little  town  some  four  miles  away,  where  there  were 


534  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

sixteen  miles  of  warehouses.  Here  on  November  11  we 
heard  for  sure  that  the  armistiee  had  been  signed.  Well,  I 
imagine  the  people  in  IT.  S.  A.  had  a  bigger  jubilee  than 
we  did.  We  didn't  know  what  to  think  of  it.  Of  course 
we  were  glad,  but  we  couldn't  hardly  believe  ourselves. 

Although  the  war  had  ended,  our  work,  being  engineers, 
was  not  finished.  We  had  hospitals  to  build  for  those  who 
could  not  be  sent  home  just  yet.  Two  companies  were  sent 
to  Savenay  at  a  big  base  hospital  there  to  put  up  more 
barracks.  Two  companies  were  sent  to  Brest  to  do  work 
about  the  docks.  Provisions  still  had  to  be  sent  out  and 
many  of  our  men  were  kept  busy  keeping  the  roads  in 
repair  for  big  heavy  army  trucks.  Some  of  the  time  our 
boys  guarded  German  and  Austrian  prisoners  who  did 
much  of  this  work.  Times  were  better  for  us  now  for  we 
were  at  a  permanent  camp.  Then  we  got  our  first  overseas 
furlough.  Most  of  us  went  to  St.  Malo  on  the  English 
Channel.  Here  you  could  see  many  curios.  This  is  a  walled 
city  and  I  saw  some  of  the  timbers  that  were  in  one  of  the 
ships  of  Cartier  when  he  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 
Old  time  armor,  muskets,  swords,  daggers  and  bows  and 
arrows  as  used  by  the  English  at  one  time.  This  place  and 
others  near  Divard  are  great  resorts  for  English  as  well  as 
Americans  in  civil  life.  Mt.  St.  Michel  is  a  wonderful  mon- 
astery built  upon  a  high  rock  which  used  to  be  an  island. 
Parts  of  it  were  built  in  1200  and  are  still  standing. 

Our  next  furlough  gave  us  permission  to  see  much  of 
the  battle  front.  Many  of  us  went  by  Paris,  Chateau 
Thierry,  Soissons,  Rheims,  Chalons-sur-Marne,  Verdun, 
Toul,  Nancy,  Metz  and  other  cities  along  that  line.  Most 
of  our  interest  centered  around  Chateau  Thierry,  for  here 


THE  WORLD  WAR  535 

it  was  our  American  boys  first  started  the  Hun  back  on 
his  homeward  run  which  he  never  stopped  until  the  finish 
of  the  war.  Verdun  with  its  underground  citadel  gave  us 
much  to  wonder  about  and  its  strong  underground  forts 
which  the  Germans  never  could  pass.  Paris  is  a  great  art 
city,  with  all  its  great  paintings  and  history  connected  with 
it.  The  Eiffel  tower  can  be  seen  anywhere  in  the  city.  The 
Ferris  Wheel  is  known  the  world  over.  The  palace  at  Ver- 
sailles can  never  be  forgotten.  Rheims  had  only  fifteen 
houses  standing,  when  before  the  war  there  were  enough 
to  shelter  150,000  people.  And  so  it  was  all  along  the 
front,  one  ruin  after  another.  Anyone  seeing  these  French 
people  taking  heart  after  all  this  surely  would  be  strength- 
ened by  it.  Everywhere  you  could  go  they  would  be  build- 
ing up  their  homes  again.  While  out  in  the  country  in 
Belleau  Wood  a  party  of  us  stopped  at  a  farm  house  to 
get  a  drink.  The  lady  told  us  hoAV  they  had  to  leave  and 
go  to  Paris  during  the  battle.  She  no  longer  had  a  husband 
and  had  lost  two  sons.  She  was  left  with  just  a  little 
daughter  of  five  and  a  boy  of  seven,  yet  she  was  going 
ahead  trying  to  do  what  she  could.  Most  of  them  would 
say,  "It  is  war." 

I  have  never  heard  a  soldier  say  he  was  in  favor  of 
universal  military  training.  Why  should  we  take  up  just 
what  we  have  been  fighting  against?  Isn't  this  the  very 
thing  that  brought  us  over  here?  Ask  the  boys  and  they 
wTill  tell  you  it  was  the  officers  who  needed  the  training  and 
they  all  say  if  this  country  wants  to  do  anything  in  the 
line  of  training  let  Uncle  Sam  train  more  officers.  The 
enlisted  men  can  do  their  part. 

An  old  story  is  told  about  a  night  attack  by  German 


536  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

aeroplanes.  A  private  was  asked  why  he  didn't  get  under 
cover  in  a  dugout.  "I  did  try,"  he  said.  "I  rushed  as 
fast  as  I  could,  but  when  I  got  to  the  entrance  I  couldn't 
get  in.  Why?  It  was  full  of  officers  and  second  lieuten- 
ants." 

Very  few  soldiers  were  ever  able  to  find  acquaintances 
while  overseas.  In  many  instances  boys  from  the  same 
home  went  in  the  same  outfit,  but  when  otherwise,  a  soldier 
was  not  likely  to  see  anyone  else  he  knew.  Soldiers  look 
so  much  alike  that  you  wouldn't  know  an  old  friend  unless 
you  came  face  to  face  with  him.  I  never  passed  a  soldier 
unless  I  looked  directly  at  him,  yet  I  never  ran  across  any- 
one I  knew  in  my  eleven  months  across.  The  divisions 
were  scattered  so  much.  Men,  men,  men  everywhere.  Any 
place  you  went,  big  city,  little  city,  town,  village  and  every 
cow  path  in  France  was  trod  by  them.  Any  time  you  saw 
an  American  uniform  you  always  felt  free  to  ask  for  any 
information,  and  no  matter  how  big  a  hurry,  you  got  it. 
This  is  a  courtesy  known  only  by  soldiers. 

I  will  now  invite  you  to  go  in  a  tent  of  fif ers  and  drum- 
mers. Snoozing  time — best  in  the  world  along  about  5  :30 
in  the  morning  by  the  watch,  which  is  set  one  hour  fast,  so 
you  see  it  is  really  4 :30 ;  and  then  this  time  is  about  six 
hours  faster  than  ours.  Along  comes  someone  outside  to 
wake  us.  Oh,  Sarge,  time  to  get  up !  Just  fifteen  minutes. 
All  right.  Sarge  then  calls  Parker.  I'm  awake,  Sarge. 
Parker  speaks  gently  to  Jewell.  Jewell!  No  answer. 
Jewell !  a  little  louder.  Jewell !  Jewell !  Jewell  turns 
over.  Soon  Parker  yells,  Oh,  Jewell !  Get  up !  Jewell 
laughs  and  says  he's  been  awake  all  the  time.  Anderson 
answers  to  his  call.    Roney  does.     Some  one  tells  Paul  its 


THE  WORLD  WAR  537 

time  to  get  out.  He  grunts  a  little  and  says  ''I'm  belavin' 
I'm  going  to  be  sick  some  o'  this  days — I  think  I  sleep 
some  more."  From  outside  comes  another  call,  everybody 
out.  Only  five  minutes.  Hurry  up,  fellows.  All  jump 
into  their  clothes  and  are  out  in  about  three  minutes.  The 
boys  make  their  round  like  the  buglers  to  waken  the  camp, 
noisily  banging  on  their  drums  to  the  tune  of  "Hail!  Hail ! 
the  Gang's  All  Here."  Reveille  over — all  rush  for  their 
mush  and  bacon  and  eat  it  like  its  good.  Back  to  the  tent. 
"I  wonder  when  its  going  to  quit  raining.  I'll  be  glad 
when  we  get  out  of  this  hole.  I  wish  it  would  quit  raining. ' ' 
You  see  it  had  only  been  raining  every  day  for  sixty  days. 
' '  I  believe  I  'd  rather  have  some  mail  from  home  than  any- 
thing in  this  whole  world  outside  of  anything  else.  I  know. 
What  time  is  it?  When  do  we  eat?"  One  fellow  says 
he's  learning  the  book  of  rules  on  the  army.  (1)  Never 
talk  back  to  your  superior  officers.  (2)  Never  ask  any 
questions.  (3)  Never  volunteer  for  anything.  (4) 
Always  keep  your  bowels  open.  This  covers  a  multitude. 
The  other  day  I  heard  about  a  fellow  who  had  the  head- 
ache, rheumatism  in  his  right  shoulder,  his  left  leg  thrown 
out  of  socket  and  a  few  minor  scratches  too  trivial  to  men- 
tion. When  he  was  brought  before  the  doctors  and  pill 
rollers  they  merely  said :  "Give  him  a  C.  C.  pill  and  paint 
him  with  iodine.  Next ! "  It  really  did  seem  that  iodine 
would  cure  all  diseases  incident  to  humanity  by  the  way 
it  was  used.  One  of  the  boys  said  he  had  a  dream  last 
night,  so  they  all  listened  to  him.  He  had  made  a  trip  to 
visit  the  President  back  in  Washington,  D.  C.  Without 
any  trouble  whatever  he  was  ushered  in  to  see  the  first  man 
of  the  land.    Upon  entering  it  seemed  that  this  soldier  was 


538  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

a  little  wabbly.  There  was  something  wrong  with  his  legs 
between  his  knees  and  ankles.  Upon  looking  down  he  saw 
that  he  wasn  't  as  tall  as  usual  and  he  had  an  extra  ball  and 
socket  joint  between  his  knee  and  ankle.  He  was  walking 
on  this  joint  part  of  the  time  and  his  feet  were  dragging 
along  behind  him.  He  faced  the  President  and  stood  at 
attention  who  said :  ' '  Arise,  my  brave  young  American 
soldier  from  overseas  and  state  the  purpose  of  your  visit. 
You're  at  ease."  Trying  to  rise  with  such  legs,  joints 
swinging  in  any  and  all  directions  was  indeed  a  thing 
worthy,  so  after  just  a  momentary  pause  he  succeeded  in 
saying  these  few  terse  words :  ' '  Sir,  Mr.  President,  if  you 
will  allow  me,  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  can  not  agree  with  you 
about  your  visit  to  Europe.  I  am  afraid  it  will  get  us  into 
entangling  alliances  which  will  lead  to  serious  future 
trouble.  It  is  something  no  President  in  office  has  ever 
done  before.  You  will  please  remember  what  George 
Washington  said  about  it. ' '  By  this  time  the  soldier  had  a 
chance  to  notice  the  effect  of  what  he  had  said  to  our 
President.  He  noticed  slippers  upon  his  feet  and  the  round 
old-fashioned  footstool  made  of  tomato  cans  and  covered 
with  carpet  near  his  rocking-chair,  his  vest  was  only  but- 
toned at  the  top  button.  Why,  the  President  wasn't 
shaved.  He  hadn't  even  polished  up  that  day  at  all.  Just 
then  the  tears  began  to  roll  down  the  President's  face. 
This  soldier  boy  happening  to  look  up  saw  standing  near, 
Miss  Margaret.  She  said  quietly  to  him:  "My  brave 
young  man,  you  need  not  let  it  bother  you.  Paw  has't  been 
feeling  very  well  here  lately  anyhow."  Just  a  dream! 
Everybody  out  for  chow.  With  a  whoop  and  rattle  and 
bang  all  the  boys  rushed  out  to  get  in  line  for  eats. 


THE  WORLD  WAR  539 

Finally  word  came  to  our  section  of  the  camp  that  we 
were  really  on  the  sailing  list  for  home.  The  first  night  the 
boys  put  on  a  regular  parade.  From  all  directions  you 
could  hear  some  one  yell:  "I  want  to  go  home."  The 
officers  told  us  if  we  didn't  quit  that  they  would  keep  the 
last  one  of  us  in  France.  Then  the  boys  thought  for  a 
change  they  would  have  a  little  turnout  and  put  on  a 
parade  of  their  own.  A  bunch  of  them  hunted  up  some 
red  flaring  costumes  like  troopers  and  led  the  outfit.  Two 
were  dressed  like  clowns  and  rode  two  mules  which  they 
managed  some  way  to  put  overalls  on.  Three  boys  carried 
a  big  design  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty.  Four  of  the  fellows 
carried  a  soldier  draped  in  a  blanket  to  represent  the  end 
of  our  stay  in  France.  The  band  and  the  fife  and  drum 
corps  made  little  music  and  much  noise.  Around  and 
around  the  streets  of  our  area  we  went  yelling  and  singing 
and  assembled  on  the  drill  grounds  in  a  circle  to  hear 
jokes,  see  some  weird  dances,  listen  to  speeches  or  anything 
funny  the  boys  could  think  of.  Such  a  happy  bunch  of 
soldiers  would  be  hard  to  find. 

June  30  really  found  us  on  a  good  American  ship, 
the  Walter  A.  Luckenback.  She  left  France  July  1st  and 
reached  New  York  the  afternoon  of  July  11th.  From  now 
on  we  did  not  notice  sights  much.  Our  hearts  were  full  to 
overflowing  for  a  sight  of  our  homes.  Before  leaving  them 
we  had  had  some  awful  struggles  within  ourselves.  All 
the  things  came  crowding  upon  our  minds  of  the  awful 
carnage  and  of  the  lives  lost  and  the  horror  of  the  frightful 
guns;  many  having  to  leave  a  mother  alone,  it  was  enough 
to  make  one  afraid.  But  that  would  never  do ;  it  would  be 
a  disgrace  and  a  stain  upon  one's  name  forever.     Thou- 


540  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

sands  had  a  chance  for  deferred  classification.  A  definite 
course  had  to  be  decided  upon.  When  once  done  one  would 
become  calm  and  a  changed  person.  Here  it  is:  "I  am 
coming  back.  I  am  looking  for  funny  things  everywhere. 
I  feel  that  I  can  go  into  battle,  do  anything  and  not  be 
killed."  And  it  is  wonderful  what  this  did.  All  fear 
passed  away  never  to  return  again.  The  time  came  to  say 
good-bye  to  home  folks  and  it  was  said  without  a  tear. 
There  were  only  smiles  for  them.  You  can  imagine  how 
much  easier  it  was  for  them.  It  wasn't  a  case  of  being 
hard-hearted.  Oh,  no.  And  has  the  war  brutalized  our 
boys?  Absolutely  it  has  not.  Ask  one,  as  a  soldier,  and 
see  how  quick  he  is  to  do  something  for  you.  The  boys 
are  broadened.  Life  holds  for  them  a  better  insight  into 
the  other  man's  life.  They  know  how  to  give  and  take  and 
do  it  cheerfully.  So  the  boys  took  with  them  and  brought 
back  with  them  something  that  shall  never  wear  off,  some- 
thing that  is  known  the  world  over,  the  smile  of  the  Amer- 
ican soldier. 

The  English  and  the  French  had  tried  out  heavy  cast 
steel  on  their  tanks,  but  the  German  guns  had  cracked 
them  like  walnuts.  It  fell  to  the  Americans  to  bring  forth 
a  steel  that  was  to  prove  successful  in  tank  warfare.  An 
lore  discovered  in  Colorado  was  just  what  was  needed.  The 
new  steel  which  was  molybdenum  steel  was  pressed  into 
sheets  just  a  little  thicker  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  The 
French  and  English  laughed  at  the  thickness  but  it  was  of 
tough  material  and  could  not  be  cracked  as  had  been  the 
case  with  their  heavier  tanks.  A  machine  gun  could  only 
make  a  blister  on  it  and  it  took  a  German  one-pounder  mak- 
ing a  direct  hit  to  pierce  it  which  did  not  often  happen. 


THE  WORLD  WAR  541 

The   Germans  had   their   famous   Hindenburg  line   which 
they  thought  could  never  be  broken,  but  we  shall  see. 

The  American  Army  called  for  volunteers  so  that  every 
state  in  the  Union  would  be  represented.  One  of  these  boys 
was  no  other  than  Corporal  Frank  Elliott  of  our  own 
Crawford  County,  then  in  the  Sixty-fifth  English  Corps. 
He  thought  if  other  boys  could  go  he  could  do  anything 
they  could.  Frank  was  then  at  Camp  Taylor,  Kentucky. 
On  February  20,  1918,  he  left  for  Camp  Meade,  Maryland. 
Left  Camp  Meade  on  the  23rd.  Marched  for  New  York. 
There  he  boarded  the  Olympic  for  a  fourteen  days'  trip  to 
England.  He  was  sent  to  Lullworth,  England,  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  Thirty-first  Heavy  Tank  Corps  when  his  out- 
fit trained  for  five  months  for  the  big  drive. 

There  were  many  things  a  tank  had  to  be  equipped 
with  in  order  to  be  efficient.  There  were  big  wide  trenches 
to  cross,  muddy  places  to  pull  out  of  and  barbed  wire  to 
smash.  Every  tank  carried  with  them  a  vesene  which  was 
placed  across  a  trench  too  wide  to  cross,  in  case  a  tank 
ready  to  be  drawn  around  on  track  to  catch  in  mud  and 
3^ank  it  out.  As  to  barb  wire,  guns  were  used  as  well  as 
having  the  tank  powerful  enough  to  ride  it  down. 

In  the  first  big  drive  there  were  fourteen  Heavy  tanks 
twenty-eight  feet  long  by  eight  feet  wide  manned  by  a 
corporal  and  seven  soldiers.  Each  man  had  an  assigned 
duty,  yet  must  in  case  of  loss  of  a  comrade  be  able  to 
do  anything.  Some  tanks  were  called  male  and  some 
female.  The  male  carried  French  seventy-fives  and  the 
female,  machine  guns.  These  guns  were  mounted  in 
sponsings  in  order  to  move  guns  in  any  position.     On  top 


542  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

of  each  tank  was  a  semaphore  to  give  signals.  A  periscope 
was  the  eye. 

In  order  to  get  tanks  up  ready  for  battle  they  were 
moved  at  night  and  hid  in  day  time.  The  American  patrols 
would  go  ahead  using  a  white  tape  line  so  tanks  could  see 
it  to  follow.  The  tanks  were  to  make  an  attack  on  a  seven 
hundred  yard  front.  This  placed  the  tanks  about  fifty 
yards  apart.  Sometimes  the  German  patrols  would  slip 
out  in  the  dark,  move  these  tape  lines  and  fool  our  patrols 
as  they  knew  the  country  better.  A  time  or  two  they 
caused  some  of  the  tanks  to  move  fifty  or  sixty  feet  of 
German  trenches.  The  Germans  knew  these  tanks  were 
getting  ready  for  a  drive  but  probably  thought  they  could 
capture  them. 

But  the  Americans  beat  them  to  the  zero  hour.  Up 
till  the  time  set  the  boys  felt  uneasy.  As  soon  as  in  battle 
this  feeling  left.  Boys  who  felt  like  they  were  going  to 
get  bumped  off  generally  got  it.  Cambrai  Drive,  Septem- 
ber 29,  1918,  at  5  :40  a.  m.,  a  large  gun  boomed  out  a  signal 
to  the  Allies  to  begin  the  great  barrage.  These  big  guns 
shot  just  a  short  distance  ahead  of  the  tanks.  The  shells 
were  shot  up  overhead  in  the  shape  of  an  arch.  This  fire 
was  so  continuous  and  heavy  as  to  cause  the  Germans  to 
keep  down  in  dugouts  and  trenches.  The  fire  of  shells  is 
then  sent  farther  and  farther  on  to  tear  up  as  much  barbed 
wire  entanglements  and  put  out  of  commission  as  many 
guns  of  Germans  as  possible.  A  time  and  distance  is  set 
for  each  advance  and  then  repeated  again.  The  barrage 
had  begun,  the  big  tanks  moved  forward,  with  the  infantry 
behind  them.  The  time  had  come  to  break  the  famous 
Hindenburg  Line.     The  tanks  rode  down  the  barbed  wire 


THE  WORLD  WAR  543 

so  the  infantry  could  get  through.  The  Germans  came  out 
of  trenches  and  hand  to  hand  fighting  started.  One  Ger- 
man got  on  top  of  Frank's  tank  and  threw  in  a  hand 
grenade  which  exploded  and  was  filled  with  pieces  of  iron 
something  like  brads  in  a  window.  The  boys  made  quick 
work  of  him  with  their  45 's  and  trench  knives.  As  they 
advanced  a  German  got  in  the  way  of  their  tank  and  they 
mashed  him  as  flat  as  a  flap-jack.  The  tank  at  the  left 
was  struck  with  a  large  shell  and  six  of  the  boys  were  killed. 
A  tank  on  the  right  was  struck  by  a  tracer  bullet,  a  bullet 
to  set  things  on  fire,  the  gas  caught  and  burned  all  three  of 
the  boys.  Tanks  kept  advancing  until  they  came  to  a  great 
trench  which  was  of  concrete  eighteen  inches  thick,  about 
twelve  feet  wide  and  six  feet  deep.  The  boys  took  a  wheel, 
or  what  they  called  a  vesene,  which  was  on  top  of  the  tanks 
and  placed  it  in  the  trench  so  the  tanks  could  cross.  It 
served  as  a  bridge.  This  battle  lasted  about  three  hours. 
Prank's  tank  was  put  out  of  running  order  and  had  to  be 
left  on  the  field  until  the  Germans  were  driven  back  far 
enough  so  that  it  could  be  repaired.  Most  generally  the 
army  making  an  advance  loses  most  men.  In  this  battle  the 
Americans  lost  ten  men  to  the  Germans  one.  So  many  of 
our  boys  of  the  infantry  were  killed  that  there  were  two 
rows  of  them  piled  eight  feet  high  and  an  eighth  of  a  mile 
long.  The  rule  of  the  tanks  was  to  keep  in  the  tank  a 
wounded  comrade  as  long  as  possible;  if  dead,  bury  him 
with  part  of  tank  plate  as  a  marker. 

Corporal  Frank  Elliott  was  in  five  drives  and  under 
shell  fire  seventy  days,  from  St.  Quentin  to  Johnny  Court 
eight  miles,  or  in  what  was  known  as  the  big  Cambrai  drive. 

Second  drive  October  6  at  Bellecourt.     Third  drive  at 


544  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Waincourt  October  10.  Fourth  drive  October  17  at 
Businey.  Fifth  drive  October  25,  Le  Quesney  to  Salty 
France.  This  time  it  was  raining  and  at  night.  The  boys 
had  left  their  tanks  and  were  in  what  is  called  a  bell  tent. 
The  German  aeroplanes  had  sighted  the  tanks  and  shelled 
them  all  night  but  did  not  hit  them.  Finally  one  did  hit 
in  a  few  feet  of  a  tent  and  they  went  into  a  barn  wading 
through  mud  half  knee-deep.  When  out  in  the  open  the 
boys  always  moved  into  the  newest  shell-hole  as  the  Ger- 
mans would  move  the  range  of  their  big  guns  and  that  hole 
was  the  safest  place. 

No  battle  was  as  hot  as  the  first  one  as  the  Germans 
were  always  from  that  time  on  on  the  retreat.  Finally, 
November  11,  the  war  was  ended  and  no  more  shells  came 
over.  The  biggest  thing  in  view  was  home.  Coming  back 
through  Marseilles  by  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar  best  part  on 
the  President  Wilson  or  what  was  formerly  Kaiser  Franz 
Joseph  I. 

ROY  DEWITT'S  EXPERIENCE 

My  company  left  about  the  middle  of  August  for 
France.  The  weather  was  lovely  on  the  seas  as  we  went 
over.  When  our  ship,  which  was  the  President  Grant, 
entered  the  danger  zone  several  submarines  were  sighted. 
One  fired  at  our  ship  but  missed  us  which  in  turn  fired  on 
the  submarine.  Men  reported  that  bubbles  of  air  were 
coming  up  to  the  surface  which  meant  that  the  ship  was 
sunk. 

Our  ship  landed  at  Brest,  France,  about  September 
3rd.     One  can  not  describe  how  he  feels  when  he  steps 


THE  WORLD  WAR  545 

on  foreign  soil  for  the  first  time.  We  were  anxious  to 
learn  all  about  France. 

The  city  of  Brest  is  a  very  old  city.  It  is  built  on  the 
hills  overlooking  the  sea.  The  houses  appear  to  be  about 
five  hundred  years  old,  many  of  which  are  built  of  stone. 

We  soon  went  to  a  rest  camp  to  get  back  our  legs,  for 
one  knows  that  we  weave  much  like  the  ship  when  we  first 
try  to  walk.  After  several  days  rest  we  set  out  for  the 
front.  The  cars  were  much  smaller  than  our's.  My  car 
had  about  fifty  in  it.  The  car  had  been  full  of  quick  lime. 
So  when  we  piled  down  to  sleep  the  lime  soiled  our  clothes 
and  almost  ate  our  clothes  threadbare. 

When  we  landed  at  Saint  Flourence  it  was  about  mid- 
night. Three  of  the  boys  were  sick.  My  squad  was  de- 
tailed to  care  for  them  while  the  rest  of  the  company  went 
out  about  three  miles  and  lay  down  on  the  ground  to 
sleep.  My  company  soon  found  billets  for  the  sick  boys 
and  then  I  crawled  under  part  of  the  wall  seat  in  a  depot 
so  that  my  face  was  protected  from  the  other  boys  who 
might  step  into  my  face  in  the  dark.  There  we  lay  and 
slept  without  any  covers  or  pillows. 

Next  morning  my  squad  had  to  hike  out,  carrying  our 
load  which  consisted  of  our  rifle,  a  pack  and  a  box  of  corn 
winnies  which  weighed  about  seventy  pounds.  Our  boys 
soon  became  tired  of  the  box  because  it  was  so  unhandy  to 
carry.  Letting  it  fall  we  bursted  it  open  and  divided  up 
the  load  among  our  crowd.  This  helped  us  very  much.  A 
little  later  we  found  a  supply  train  and  stored  our  load  in 
it.  The  trip  was  nineteen  kilometers.  The  boys  kept  drop- 
ping out  and  lying  down  by  the  roadside  till  we  reached 


546  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

the  end  of  the  way.  When  we  reached  our  quarters  I  was 
ahead  of  almost  all  the  company. 

During  our  few  days  there  I  bathed  in  a  little  creek  and 
ate  our  hardtack  and  a  little  greasy  rice  and  a  strip  of 
bacon  out  of  a  fat  hog.  We  were  almost  starving.  Men 
said  that  the  company  needed  provisions  up  where  a  big 
drive  was  on.  We  young  men  just  went  out  and  l '  munched ' ' 
a  little.  That  word  means  "begged."  The  French  would 
gather  around  us  and  give  us  eggs,  meat  and  bread  to  eat 
when  they  were  starving  too.  They  would  talk  to  us  with 
all  their  might,  but  we  could  not  understand  a  word  they 
said. 

In  a  few  days  my  company  was  sent  to  the  evacuation 
camp,  from  which  we  were  to  be  sent  to  the  trenches.  At 
this  camp  there  were  hundreds  of  boys,  but  only  four  lines 
through  which  the  boys  went  to  mess.  Hence,  each  man 
had  to  be  ready  when  the  time  came.  The  rations  at  best 
were  rather  slim,  but  we  managed  to  get  enough  to  eat. 
I  happened  to  get  acquainted  with  a  big  Indian  named  Bill 
Harlen.    From  him  I  learned  many  valuable  lessons. 

When  we  were  loaded  to  go  out  to  the  lines,  the  men  left 
at  night  so  that  we  did  not  have  to  go  up  near  the  lines  in 
daytime.  When  day  came  we  found  all  sorts  of  trenches, 
shell  holes  and  dugouts,  but  the  enemy  had  been  driven 
back  several  miles. 

My  company  was  east  of  the  Nancy  sector  in  the  St. 
Mihiel  sector.  Here  we  joined  the  Eighty-ninth  Division, 
Company  I,  of  the  356th  Infantry  which  had  just  come  out 
of  the  trenches  to  have  their  ranks  filled  up  and  rest  awhile. 
Men  told  me  that  they  were  in  Alsace-Lorraine. 

The  few  days  we  stayed  here  the  men  made  the  trenches 


THE  WORLD  WAR  547 

safe  for  the  soldiers  who  came  out  to  rest.  During  these 
days  we  were  all  over  the  woods.  Here  we  found  German 
shell-holes  which  were  almost  thirty  feet  deep.  We  found 
all  kinds  of  wines  in  these  holes  which  were  deep  down  out 
of  all  danger  of  a  shell  fire. 

After  about  three  days  we  were  lined  up  to  go  to  the 
trenches  near  the  Germans  on  the  firing  line.  The  men 
went  in  a  single  column  a  few  at  a  time.  There  might  be 
about  fifteen  in  a  single  column  and  then  a  wide  gap  be- 
tween this  column  and  the  next  column.  That  way  the  Ger- 
mans did  not  find  at  one  time  a  large  bunch  of  men,  lest 
"Jerry"  should  send  over  one  of  his  G.  I.  cans.  About  nine 
o'clock  we  decided  that  the  Germans  were  throwing  over 
too  many  gas  bombs  to  enable  us  to  get  up  to  the  line.  The 
bombs  made  a  shrill  noise  which  one  could  hear  a  long 
distance.  Our  company  came  back  about  a  mile  and  found 
a  number  of  dugouts  in  which  we  were  to  sleep  that  night. 

My  corporal  and  I  were  unlucky.  We  lay  out  on  the 
ground.  I  wrapped  my  rain  coat  around  me  well  and  lay 
facing  the  east.  That  night  it  became  cold.  Later  the  rain 
fell. 

Next  morning  we  were  routed  out  and  had  to  run  to 
the  woods.  We  stayed  in  the  trenches  till  about  9  o'clock 
when  we  were  sent  to  the  trenches  on  the  firing  line.  By 
all  means  we  were  not  to  expose  ourselves  and  keep  quiet  so 
that  the  Germans  might  not  find  us.  So  we  stayed  under 
cover  of  the  underbrush. 

My  squad  had  to  do  guard  duty.  There  were  eight  of 
us.  We  divided  up  the  time  so  that  each  had  to  stay  about 
two  hours.  When  I  went  on  guard  it  was  about  as  dark  as 
a  stack  of  black  cats,  but  as  I  had  a  wrist  watch  I  did  not 


548  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

stay  any  longer  than  my  time.  Our  beat  was  a  path 
through  the  woods.  I  soon  learned  to  follow  it  well.  I  used 
to  sit  under  a  little  ash  tree  when  off  duty.  One  day  I  was 
called  out  to  help  dig  a  communication  trench.  That  day  a 
bomb  fell  near  where  I  was  and  just  filled  the  air  with  dirt. 
A  large  shrapnel  shell  fell  at  the  root  of  the  ash  causing 
a  terrible  concussion. 

That  night  we  were  routed  out  about  midnight  and  told 
to  be  ready  to  move  quarters  in  short  notice.  We  marched 
out  till  about  daybreak.  Then  we  were  near  the  enemies. 
We  were  told  to  get  into  the  woods  and  not  let  ourselves  be 
seen  out  of  the  woods  all  day. 

At  night  we  were  lined  up  to  go  into  the  trenches.  I 
was  one  of  the  guides  in  the  march.  It  was  so  dark  that  one 
could  hardly  see  his  hand  before  him.  When  we  were  out 
of  the  woods  it  became  lighter  so  that  we  could  see  dead 
animals  on  all  sides.  Occasionally  we  stepped  into  a  shell 
hole  which  almost  jolted  our  head  off.  As  I  was  getting  out 
of  a  hole  I  smelt  something  which  was  terrible.  I  whispered 
"gas,"  meaning  it  for  a  joke,  but  everyone  kept  whispering 
till  everyone  along  the  line  pulled  on  their  gas  masks.  Those 
in  front  could  not  keep  up  their  pace  with  their  gas  masks 
on  and  the  others  crowded  upon  them  till  the  whole  crowd 
stopped.  Then  an  officer  came  along  and  ordered  them  to 
take  off  their  masks  and  proceed.  He  never  knew  that  I 
was  the  one  who  started  the  rumor. 

Finally  we  landed  in  the  trenches  and  I  was  ordered  to 
dig  the  rest  of  the  night.  The  trenches  were* marked  out  in 
some  places.  In  others  they  were  about  one  foot  deep.  I 
did  not  care  whether  I  dug  any  or  not.     After  a  few  min- 


THE  WORLD  WAR  549 

utes  a  shell  came  along  and  machine  gim  balls  were  whis- 
tling- over  my  head.     I  then  began  to  dig  in  earnest. 

Next  day  I  was  still  digging  in  the  trenches  when  I 
noticed  the  Germans  shooting  at  an  aeroplane.  They  hit 
the  plane  when  two  Americans  came  out  and  ran  before  the 
tank  exploded. 

That  night  I  got  my  gas.  We  had  worked  hard  all  day 
without  any  dinner,  for  they  could  not  get  any  dinner  up 
to  us  till  night  without  getting  the  "chow"  detail  shot. 
About  nightfall  the  chow  detail  brought  us  food.  The 
cans  were  opened  and  our  boys  began  to  eat  when  suddenly 
the  Germans  set  over  some  gas  in  a  bomb.  One  shell  came 
so  near  me  that  it  knocked  dirt  all  over  me.  I  smelt  gas 
and  put  on  my  mask,  but  since  I  had  not  shaved  that  day 
it  did  not  fit  so  well.  Next  few  minutes  the  general  ordered 
all  masks  off,  thinking  it  was  a  joke  about  the  gas.  The 
next  day  the  inspector  found  enough  gas  to  put  a  man  out 
of  commission.  There  were  nineteen  out  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  who  did  not  have  to  go  to  the  hospital. 

I  thought  that  I  was  all  right.  I  helped  lay  out  so 
many   of  the   boys  who   were   deathly   sick.     About   nine 

0  'clock  a  first  aid  man  came  around  to  see  how  many  would 
need  to  go  to  the  hospital.  I  told  him  that  I  would  not 
have  to  go,  but  after  examining  me  I  was  ordered  away  too. 

1  had  not  been  on  the  way  long  till  I  became  sick  too.  In 
a  little  while  I  was  almost  blind  but  managed  to  reach 
headquarters.  Here  the  ambulances  were  brought,  but 
I  was  too  sick  to  ride  in  one,  so  I  was  carried  on  stretchers. 
One  man  came  up  and  said  that  there  is  a  very  sick  boy. 
They  sent  me  back  to  Nancy.  While  I  was  here  they  wrote 
a  letter  home  and  told  my  people  about  the  matter.     Soon 


550  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

I  broke  out  with  sores  which  were  not  healed  well  for  sev- 
eral months.  My  cough  became  worse  too.  It  has  not 
entirely  left  me  yet.  We  were  sent  to  the  Mediterranean 
coast  for  a  while  and  then  back  to  central  France.  From 
here  we   were  shipped  home  to  New  York. 

When  I  arrived  in  New  York  I  felt  all  right.  They 
allowed  me  to  go  out  over  the  city.  On  certain  occasions 
we  were  entertained  by  the  "Chateau  Thierry"  Club.  On 
the  night  before  I  was  to  start  to  West  Baden  for  treat- 
ment I  became  sick  and  was  taken  to  my  room.  Next  day 
I  felt  better  till  I  boarded  the  train,  then  I  became  deathly 
sick.  For  several  weeks  I  hardly  knew  anything.  My 
father  came  to  see  me  but  I  never  knew  him.  He  got  me 
discharged  on  August  14,  1919.  While  there  they  kept  me 
in  a  straight-jacket.  I  did  not  know  what  went  on  at  Fort 
Benjamin  Harrison. 

Superintendent  H.  W.  Toney  wished  me  to  accept  a 
school  in  Union  township,  but  before  I  could  get  there 
some  one  else  was  hired. 

I  now  get  a  compensation  from  the  services  I  rendered 
and  also  for  my  ruined  health.  It  is  a  wonder  that  I  have 
any  sense  at  all. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 


ODDS   AND    ENDS 


The  items  listed  here  are  more  for  curiosity  than  any- 
thing else.     Others  are  not. 

The  county  commissioners  on  March  1,  1876,  allowed 
Wilk  Huff  $1.50  for  three  fox  scalps.  Also  allowed  Joseph 
Rainforth  $1.50  for  three  fox  scalps.  The  law  then  allowed 
men  fifty  cents  for  fox  scalps.  There  were  so  many  foxes 
that  they  were  a  nuisance  to  farmers  and  often  destroyed 
many  chickens. 

March  3,  1878,  E.  M.  Tracewell  filed  a  claim  for  $40 
for  professional  service  and  was  granted  $17.50. 

June  8,  1881,  G.  H.  Abel  asked  for  $10.68  but  was 
allowed  $8.00.  The  same  day  Doctor  H.  H.  Setser  filed  a 
claim  for  $46.50  and  was  granted  $24.00. 

In  March,  1847,  John  Waddle  was  fined  $2  for  swear- 
ing two  profane  oaths.  Later  he  was  fined  again  for 
swearing.  Zebariah  Hawn  and  John  Headers  were  also 
fined  $3  and  $1  for  swearing  on  February  23,  1846,  and 
September  3,  1846.  March,  1848,  Ben  Bullington  was  fined 
for  working  on  the  Sabbath  day. 

Ordered  that  Joshua  Pruett  of  Patoka  township  be 
released  from  paying  poll  tax  on  account  of  his  bodily 
condition  and  he  being  poor  and  unable  to  pay  the  same. 

551 


552  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

If  he  ever  becomes  well  then  he  shall  be  listed  again.  Also 
ordered  by  the  commissioners  that  Jesse  Spears  be  released 
from  the  payment  of  all  taxes  on  account  of  his  disability ; 
up  to  the  present  time  all  tax  cancelled. 

Nath  Morgan  was  allowed  $5  for  a  coffin  which  he 
furnished  John  Mix  on  December  3,  1877. 

Granted  John  McCallister  $35  for  taking  Thomas 
Thurston,  who  was  insane,  to  the  National  Hospital  at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

Allowed  James  Key  of  Sterling  township  $10  for  caring 
for  a  foundling  child  which  some  one  left  at  his  door  step 
on  the  night  of  May  8,  1877.  The  board  ordered  him  to 
care  for  it  at  $1  a  week  till  further  notice.  The  child  was 
named  "Little  Belle  May." 

William  E.  Jenner  on  June  7,  1883,  presented  a  claim 
for  $7  and  received  $4.  Doctor  Kimes  presented  a  claim 
for  $5.50  and  received  $4.  Christian  Atz  filed  a  claim  for 
$83.30  and  was  allowed  $45. 

The  above  shows  how  the  board  ran  expenses  down. 

Board  released  George  W.  White  from  paying  tax  on 
the  ground  that  he  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Stone's 
River,  from  which  he  was  disabled. 

A  list  of  postoffices  of  the  county  in  1866  contained 
these  names;  Alton,  Fredonia,  Magnolia,  Milltown,  Pilot 
Knob,  Down  Hill,  Grantsburg,  Marengo,  Mt.  Prospect, 
Wickliffe,  English,  Leavenworth,  Mifflin,  Padiria 

A  list  of  the  students  who  have  been  sent  to  Indiana 
and  Purdue  Universities  as  county  students  are :  William 
Ridge,  David  Tadlock,  Luke  Wood,  B.  F.  Reynolds,  Allen 
T.  Fleming,  Benjamin  F.  Martin,  Oliver  Leavenworth, 
William  A.  Jenkins,  Nathan  S.  Jenkins,  John  D.  Mansfield, 


ODDS  AND  ENDS  553 

John  S.  Mansfield,  John  S.  Whitten,  John  R.  Weathers. 
Seth  M.  Leavenworth  was  a  trustee  of  Indiana  University 
from  1828  to  1840.  Seth  M.  Leavenworth,  Junior,  was 
born  at  Milltown,  Indiana,  July  30,  1821,  and  died  at  Mt. 
Vernon,  Indiana,  in  1866.  He  received  his  M.  A.  and  B.  A. 
degrees  from  Indiana  University  in  1839. 

A    QUEER    CASE    IN    COURT 

Stephen  R.  Jenner  of  Marengo  and  Arthur  W.  Ward 
of  Leavenworth  were  partners  in  constructing  a  new  plow, 
the  name  of  which  was  the  convex  concave  Rotary  Mold 
Board  Plow.  Ward  was  sent  to  Washington  City  to  get 
the  copyright  or  patent  on  the  plow.  On  his  return  Jenner 
wanted  Ward  to  pay  back  to  him  the  amount  of  money 
which  Ward  had  left  over  out  of  the  expense  money  which 
Jenner  furnished  Ward  for  the  trip.  It  seems  that  Ward 
agreed  to  pay  Jenner  the  difference,  but  Jenner  then  de- 
manded $98.  Suit  was  started  in  the  Squire's  court. 
Jerry  Collins  was  the  constable  and  served  notice  on  the 
parties  to  meet  February  10,  1858,  at  ten  o'clock.  The 
case  was  tried  before  a  jury  of  five  men:  William  T.  Will- 
iams, John  Pleasant,  John  Bell,  Andrew  J.  Shaw  and 
Henry  Doolittle.  The  jury  found  Ward  guilty,  but  as- 
sessed the  damage  at  $50  instead  of  $98. 

James  Smith  and  Ella  Bowman  were  married  at  the 
home  of  James  R.  Duffin  Sunday,  March  23,  1902.  William 
H.  Scott  of  Grantsburg  officiated.  Miss  Bowman,  who 
was  the  daughter  of  John  Bowman,  was  one  of  the  leading 
teachers  of  the  county. 

The  English  city  schools  began  October  5,  1914,  in  the 
new  building.    Lee  M.  Taylor  was  superintendent  and  Har- 


554  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

rison  Toney  was  principal.     The  other  teachers  were  Cum- 
mins, Blevins,  Toney,  Melton  and  Miss  Clinn. 

The  canning  factory  at  English  had  a  very  successful 
run  during  the  year  of  1914.  In  October  of  that  year  the 
company  had  canned  200,000  cans  of  tomatoes. 

The  Marengo  Light  plant  was  completed  October  20, 
1914.  George  W.  Churchill,  who  was  the  manager,  had 
fifty-five  street  crossings  and  sixty-two  other  lights  in  the 
system.  Churchill  worked  well  to  give  the  people  good 
service. 

Sam  Elsby  bought  W.  L.  Luckett's  interest  in  the  bank 
at  English  Monday,  March  28,  1902.  Plans  were  made  to 
start  a  new  bank  which  became  the  well  known  Crawford 
County  State  Bank. 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  always  turn  out  well 
to  honor  a  man  to  whom  honor  is  due.  On  May  11,  1902, 
S.  E.  McFall,  W.  L.  Gregory,  J.  H.  Luckett,  C.  W.  Dot- 
son,  G.  R.  and  F.  W.  Hazelwood,  E.  R.  Gobbell,  C.  A.  Rob- 
ertson, Robert  Tucker  and  Charles  Conn  of  English 
attended  the  funeral  of  Charles  Austin  Ross  at  Leaven- 
worth. Ross,  who  had  been  killed  in  the  Philippine 
Islands,  had  been  brought  home  for  burial. 

The  famous  white  sulphur  well  was  discovered  in  the 
'sixties.  Men  were  drilling  for  oil  when  they  struck  the 
stream  of  sulphur  water.  The  water  gushed  out  with 
terrific  force.  Men  say  that  the  tools  were  carried  out  of 
the  hole  by  the  force  of  the  water.  For  a  long  time  a  fine 
hotel  was  doing  a  big  business  but  it  burned  down  several 
years  ago.  The  well  runs  about  fifteen  hundred  gallons  of 
water  a  day.  A  Chicago  company  bought  it  in  1926  and 
will  build  a  large  hotel  there. 


ODDS  AND  ENDS  555 

During  the  spring  normal  at  English  in  1902  William 
Patton  met  Florence  Riddle.  Later  the  couple  were  mar- 
ried on  Wednesday,  August  24,  1902,  by  Martin  J.  Brown. 
To-dajr  Patton  is  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  Eng- 
lish. 

During  the  summer  of  1902  Doctor  John  E.  Fetzer  of 
Marengo  sold  out  his  office  to  Doctor  L.  E.  Grant  of  Syra- 
cuse, New  York.  Doctor  Fetzer,  who  was  a  leading  Repub- 
lican, was  a  popular  physician. 

Otho  Mock  of  Leavenworth  and  Lou  McDonald  were 
married  at  Corydon  Thursday,  September  28,  1902.  Mock, 
who  is  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  Leavenworth, 
was  the  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  Mock. 

Another  popular  couple  from  English  were  John  Tem- 
ple and  Roma  Fleming.  They  were  married  by  Martin  J. 
Brown  September  21,  1902.  Temple  is  one  of  the  best 
business  men  of  English. 

The  town  of  English  bought  out  the  light  plant  for 
$1,300  on  October  10,  1902.  The  town  paid  down  $300  and 
paid  the  rest  by  installments. 

H.  H.  Weathers,  who  was  born  in  1806,  and  spent  most 
all  his  life  in  Crawford  County,  died  in  1902.  Elder  Samp- 
son Cox  preached  his  funeral.  The  interment  occurred  in 
Liberty  township   October  2,   1902. 

Professor  John  M.  Johnson  and  Roy  Jack  of  Corydon 
conducted  a  spring  normal  in  the  old  academy  at  Marengo 
beginning  April  13,  1903.  This  was  the  last  normal  in 
which  Johnson  took  a  leading  part. 

Doctor  Felix  Hammond,  who  received  his  dental  license 
about  July  10,  1903,  bought  out  J.  B.  Blessing's  dental 
office  on  June  5,  1903,  and  began  dental  work.     The  same 


556  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

year  Guido  B.  Hammond  graduated  from  the  Louisville 
School  of  Medicine  and  began  practice  at  English.  Both 
brothers  have  made  a  success  in  their  professions. 

Alton  was  visited  by  a  very  destructive  fire  on  Septem- 
ber 26,  1903,  about  four  a.  m.  The  ware-house  of  Peckin- 
paugh,  Harrison  and  Company  burned  down.  The  fire 
probably  caught  from  the  ashes  in  the  coal  bucket  in  the 
blacksmith  shop.  The  loss  was  estimated  at  three  thou- 
sand dollars. 

The  mussel  industry  on  the  Ohio  River  has  its  danger- 
ous features.  On  Wednesday,  September  24,  1903,  Felix 
Mode,  who  was  "musseling"  for  shells  near  the  Diamond 
Rock,  not  far  from  Fredonia  Landing,  was  caught  by  the 
brail  and  thrown  into  the  water.  The  weight  of  the  brail 
caught  in  his  clothes  and  pulled  him  to  the  bottom  where 
he  drowned.  Later  his  body  was  recovered.  Probably 
this  was  the  first  life  lost  in  musseling. 

Crawford  Lodge  No.  470,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons, 
was  organized  under  special  dispensation  of  the  rules  in 
1874.  The  Grand  Lodge  dispensed  with  the  rules  in  1872 
and  then  gave  the  lodge  a  charter.  A  hall  was  built  and 
used  many  years  until  the  members  sold  the  old  hall  in 
1903  and  bought  over  the  bank  building.  Here  the  Masons 
met  till  the  new  hall  was  complete  in  1922.  Then  the  Odd 
Fellows  bought  the  old  Masonic  Hall  for  their  building. 
Crawford  lodge  is  located  at  English.  Probably  one  of  the 
most  noted  masters  is  Henry  W.  Mock,  who  has  held  the 
position  for  many  years. 

William  Shelby  Ross  completed  the  twelve  years'  work 
in  school  at  Milltown  March  25,  1904.     During  that  time 


ODDS  AND  ENDS  557 

lie  never  missed  a  day.  One  night  he  studied  till  morning 
in  order  to  get  his  lessons  out  well. 

Township  elections  in  1904  in  Crawford  County  showed 
that  these  men  had  won : 

Sterling — John  Brown,   trustee ;   Ina  Dooley,   assessor. 

Patoka — J.  M.  Tucker,  trustee;  D.  M.  Murray,  assessor. 

Johnson — Lee  Wright,  trustee,  Miles  Mullen,  assessor. 

Union — W.  W.  Myler,  trustee ;  Martin  Smith,  assessor. 

Jennings — J.  E.  Stephenson,  trustee;  Jesse  Dean,  as- 
sessor. 

Whisky  Run — Jerry  Batman,  trustee;  Sylvester  Du- 
bois, assessor. 

Ohio — William  Fesler  (was  the  youngest  trustee  ever 
elected)   trustee;  Jacob  Wiseman,  assessor. 

The  Leavenworth  Button  Mill  was  organized  with  a 
capital  stock  of  $10,000.  The  leading  stockholders  were 
H.  H.  Setser,  James  H.  Doolittle,  P.  M.  Overbacker,  S.  D. 
Alexander,  T.  P.  Ellsworth  and  J.  F.  Lindley.  Later 
Joseph  Bell  became  manager  of  the  mill.  One  of  his  most 
efficient  men  is  Lyman  Davis  whose  duty  it  is  to  sort  the 
shells. 

The  Liberty  township  pike  was  let  to  the  Marengo  Rock 
Road  Company  Saturday,  July  7,  1904.  The  leading  citi- 
zens of  Marengo  made  up  the  company.  The  pike  was  to 
cost  $10,481.74.  W.  V.  Weathers,  who  was  a  major  in  the 
Union  Army,  was  appointed  superintendent  of  the  road. 

Cyrus  Gresham,  who  lived  near  Taswell,  was  a  soldier 
in  the  Mexican  War.  He  died  at  his  home  March  15,  1902, 
and  was  buried  at  Mifflin.  He  drew  a  pension  for  dis- 
abilities received  in  the  Mexican  War. 


558  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Citizens,  take  notice!  I  shall  call  on  you  for  your 
taxes  in  a  few  days  and  shall  expect  you  to  have  the  money 
ready  to  pay  your  taxes.  Further  indulgence  can  not  be 
given.  J.  S.  McNaughton,  collector  of  taxes,  August  16, 
;1838.  The  above  notice  was  taken  from  the  Leavenworth 
Arena.  At  that  time  men  paid  taxes  differently  from  our 
modern  method. 

Joke  on  Senator  John  Benz.  He  was  complaining  about 
the  county  going  dry  and  his  not  getting  any  beer  to  drink. 
Senator  Hugg  introduced  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  a 
committee  be  appointed  consisting  of  Senators  Goodwine, 
Moss  and  Crumpacker  to  buy  Senator  Benz  a  cow  so  that 
he  would  have  buttermilk  to  drink.  Committee  was  ap- 
pointed February  22,  1907. 

From  the  Leavenworth  Arena  of  July  19,  1838,  Abra- 
ham Edwards  had  this  article  :  ' '  Stop  that  Thief.  Stolen 
from  the  subscriber  on  Wednesday  night,  two  linen  shirts, 
three  or  four  ladies '  capes,  one  shaving  box  and  several 
other  articles.  The  person  who  stole  these  articles  is  a 
large  man.  He  wears  a  fur  cap,  dark  striped  trousers  and 
a  blue  coat.  I  shall  give  ten  dollars  reward  for  his  delivery 
and  the  return  of  the  articles. ' ' 

The  Marengo  postofnce  was  robbed  July  26,  1907.  The 
person  who  entered  the  office  secured  about  three  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  stamps  and  three  hundred  and  eighty 
dollars  of  Anna  Turner 's  money.  She  was  deputy  post- 
mistress. 

On  January  22,  1915,  W.  B.  Deuschar's  store  building 
was  torn  down  and  moved  away  to  a  new  location  on  High 
Street.  This  building  was  built  by  Rice  B.  Lease  and. Peter 
Claycomb  for  Nathaniel  Hollcroft  and  E.  P.  T.  Hollcroft 


ODDS  AND  ENDS  559 

in  1860.  On  that  very  same  spot  Marcus  Gaither  built  the 
first  shack  in  Alton  about  1830. 

The  Jersey  Cattle  Club  met  at  the  Red  Men's  Hall  in 
Marengo  May  15,  1915.  Congressman  Cox  and  Professor 
George  of  Purdue  University  were  on  the  program.  Car- 
rolton  Ball  tested  thirty-nine  samples  of  cream  which  he 
said  was  as  good  as  he  ever  tested.  William  Veatch  was 
president  and  C.  J.  Tucker  was  secretary.  The  Jersey 
Cattle  Club  has  done  much  good  in  Crawford  County. 

Below  is  the  record  of  a  county  normal  held  at  English 
in  1900 :  Grover  Fleming,  Charles  Gregory,  John  Bunch, 
Earl  Boyd,  Novy  Gobbell,  Jesse  Whimster,  Huldah  Beaty, 
Harry  Boyd,  Cressa  Lomax,  George  Weil,  Harry  Beaty, 
Mattie  Bund,  Thomas  Frick,  Ida  Smith,  Emma  Scott, 
Willie  Patton,  Blanche  Pro,  Bertha  Moore,  Alma  Beaty, 
May  Dearborn,  Bertha  Gregory,  Joe  Ray,  Leonard  Cum- 
mins, Florence  Riddle,  G.  H.  Wiseman,  Elmer  and  Jessie 
Merilees,  J.  E.  Nolan,  Mattie  Lane,  Maude  Newton,  Laura 
Fields,  Ira  Lamon,  Albert  Mock,  Perry  Walts,  Owen  Duf- 
fin,  Luther  King,  Ollie  Sanders,  Will  Snider,  Maggie 
Jacobs,  Jane  Mandlin  and  Jesse  Brown.  Professor  Lewis 
Terman  and  P.  A.  Simons  were  instructors. 

The  number  and  members  of  the  Odd  Fellows  Lodges 
in  Crawford  County  on  July  31,  1911,  were: 

Alton  Lodge  No.  697 — 102  members. 
English  Lodge  No.  596 — 56  members. 
Grantsburg  Lodge  No.  407 — 68  members. 
Leavenworth  Lodge  No.  142 — 86  members. 
Marengo  Lodge  No.  611 — 53  members. 
Milltown  Lodge  No.  447 — 128  members. 


560  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Sulphur  Lodge  No.  861 — 53  members. 

In  all  there  were  546  members  in  the  county. 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  have  always  been  of  a 
religious  turn  of  mind.  Probably  the  first  church  ever  built 
was  over  near  English.  It  was  called  the  Blue  River  meet- 
ing house.     Rev.  David  M.  Stewart  was  one  of  the  pastors. 

Another  old  church  was  built  in  Leavenworth  in  the 
early  days.  It  was  called  the  Universalist  church.  One 
finds  the  citizens  complaining  about  the  boys  breaking  out 
the  windows  of  this  church  in  1838.  That  same  year  E.  B. 
Manes  preached  in  the  house.  On  September  14,  1838,  J. 
Miller  advertised  that  the  Methodist  people  would  hold  a 
three  days'  meeting  in  Leavenworth.  The  old  Universalist 
church  was  used  for  a  school,  too.  On  August  15,  1839, 
M.  J.  Woodford  opened  a  school  in  the  church.  He 
charged  $3.25  for  the  higher  branches  and  $2.50  for  the 
lower  branches. 

The  Baptist  people  were  on  the  ground  early  in  Craw- 
ford County.  They  held  services  in  an  old  log  house  near 
the  old  El  Bethel  church.  No  one  knows  when  the  old  log 
church  was  built.  The  frame  church  which  now  stands  at 
the  Pilot  Knob  postoffice  was  built  about  1890. 

The  Methodist  class  at  Tower  was  organized  in  the  old 
log  cooper  shop  of  Gaines  Patrick.  Many  people  joined  in 
and  built  the  Tower  Chapel  church  about  1858.  Old  log 
seats  were  used.  The  old  schoolhouse  was  used  for  church 
purposes.  The  old  log  church  was  remodeled  about  1870. 
Long  seats  were  put  into  it  and  the  old  split  logs  were  taken 
out  of  it.    Many  noted  pastors  have  preached  in  the  Tower 


ODDS  AND  ENDS  561 

Chapel,  among  whom  one  may  name  Cheeseman,  Steele, 
Breeden,  Walker,  Collins,  Shafer,  Rosier  and  Dalrymple. 

The  Union  Chapel  was  built  on  Bowman's  farm  which 
is  now  the  Everdon  farm.  The  church  was  moved  to  the 
Tower  cemetery  about  1890.  Here  the  people  constructed 
a  new  frame  church  which  was  called  Everdon 's  Chapel. 
This  was  a  United  Brethren  church.  Noted  men  have 
preached  here  too,  among  whom  one  may  name  Crawford, 
Andy  Winsett,  Patterson,  Hobson  and  many  others.  The 
church  house  was  sold  to  Willie  Beals  about  1920.  At  that 
time  no  church  had  been  held  there  for  many  years. 

The  Methodist  people  under  the  pastorship  of  Valen- 
tine Deich  built  a  new  church  at  Mansfield  about  1916.  It 
was  dedicated  under  Reverend  Rosier 's  preaching.  Much 
credit  is  due  to  Mrs.  J.  E.  Parkhill  and  her  friends  for  the 
success  of  the  undertaking.  Reverend  Dalrymple,  who  was 
born  in  Scotland  and  came  to  America,  was  the  Methodist 
pastor  for  several  years.  He  labored  hard  to  build  up  the 
church.  Later  Leavenworth  was  made  a  station  and  given 
a  full  time  pastor.  The  Methodist  church  bought  Charlie 
Scott's  farm  for  a  home  for  their  pastor.  Reverend 
Wagoner,  who  now  is  the  pastor,  lives  on  the  farm  and 
holds  services  at  Pleasant  Ridge,  Fredonia,  Mansfield  and 
Tower  Chapel. 

The  old  Sheckels  schoolhouse,  which  was  built  by  Abra- 
ham Sheckels  back  in  the  early  days,  was  used  for  a  church 
till  the  United  Brethren  built  their  church  after  the  Civil 
War.  The  old  Sheckels  schoolhouse  was  burned  down 
about  1896.  This  building  had  replaced  the  old  log  school- 
house. 

The  Baptists  and  Methodists  built  churches  on  Pleasant 


562  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Ridge.  The  seats  in  the  Methodist  church  at  Pleasant 
Ridge  have  been  made  out  of  walnut  lumber  which  was 
very  common  about  the  time  of  the  Civil  War. 

The  Latter  Day  Saints  began  preaching  at  Baker's 
schoolhouse  in  Jennings  township  about  1893.  Later  a 
class  was  organized.  The  church  sent  elders  there  occa- 
sionally for  a  two  or  three  days'  meeting.  George  Jenkins, 
Kelly,  Porter,  Scott,  Isaac  Beggerly  and  many  others  have 
preached  there.    At  present  the  class  is  not  so  progressive. 

The  old-time  church  service  was  so  different  from  the 
modern  worship.  The  Sabbath  School  came  first.  Then 
preaching  service.  Once  or  twice  a  month  they  had  class 
meeting.  All  the  members  were  expected  to  attend.  The 
members  were  expected  to  give  their  testimony.  They  stood 
up  and  testified  for  the  loving  Jesus  and  prayed  that  God 
would  take  care  of  them.  The  neighbors  were  to  pray 
for  them,  too. 

The  sermons  were  long  ones.  In  many  cases  they  lasted 
over  two  hours.  The  ministers  of  these  good  old  days  were 
excellent  speakers.  The  audience  would  not  tolerate  a 
man's  reading  a  sermon.  The  more  he  could  quote  from 
the  Bible  the  better  men  respected  him.  Not  one  church 
in  a  hundred  ever  had  a  piano  or  an  organ. 

The  songs  used  were  the  old-time  hymns,  among  which 
one  may  list  the  following : 

There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood 

Drawn  from  Immanuel's  veins; 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  that  flood, 

Lose  all  their  guilty  stains. 


ODDS  AND  ENDS  563 

The  dying  thief  rejoiced  to  see 

That  fountain  in  his  day. 
And  there  may  I  though  vile  as  he 

Wash  all  my  sins  away. 

Then  in  a  nobler,  sweeter  song, 

I'll  sing  thy  power  to  save, 
When  this  poor  lisping,  stammering  tongue 

Lies  silent  in  the  grave. 

— Written  by  William  Cowper. 

When  I  can  read  my  title  clear 

To  mansions  in  the  skies, 
I  bid  farewell  to  every  fear, 

And  wipe  my  weeping  eyes. 

Should   earth   against   my  soul   engage, 

And  fiery  darts  be  hurled; 
Then  I  can  smile  at  Satan's  rage, 

And  face  a  frowning  world. 

There  I  shall  bathe  my  weary  soul 

In  seas  of  heavenly  rest, 
And  not  a  wave  of  trouble  roll 

Across  my  peaceful  breast. 

— Written  by  Isaac  Watts, 

The  above  songs  are  illustrative  of  many  others 
which  were  used  by  the  pioneers  in  the  early  days.  The 
name  of  one  of  the  leading  hymn  books  was  the  Christian 
Psalmist. 

The  old-time  Christian  was  filled  with  the  spirit.  When 
he  became  happy  he  shouted  all  over  the  church  house.  It 
was  a  common  sight  in  the  pioneer  days  to  see  a  dozen 
shouting  during  an  old-fashioned  camp  meeting. 

The  Catholics  have  one  church  in  the  county.     It  is 


564  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

located  south  of  Milltown  a  few  miles.  The  pastor  of  the 
church  is  a  prominent  priest  who  lives  over  near  French- 
town.  The  writer  is  unable  to  tell  just  when  the  church 
was  built.  Most  of  his  inquiries  were  never  answered  so 
that  definite  information  could  not  be  had  relative  to  any 
of  the  churches. 

The  Indians  were  still  in  Crawford  County  when  the 
white  men  first  came.  Chief  Ouiska  lived  up  near  the  Big 
Springs  in  Marengo.  Later  the  natives  called  that  little 
creek  Ouiska  Run  which  was  corrupted  to  "Whisky  Run. 
That  venerable  old  chief  was  friendly  to  the  white  men. 
His  people  were  supposed  to  be  Shawnees. 

Another  settlement  of  Indians  lived  in  Jennings  town- 
ship. That  high  ridge  of  land  between  Mark  Froman's 
crossroads  and  Fredonia  was  called  Indian  Ridge,  while 
Indian  Hollow  is  hard-by. 

On  Mitchell  Creek,  not  far  from  Eckerty,  another  tribe 
lived.  There  is  a  large  flat  rock  near  where  the  tepees 
stood.  There  on  that  rock  one  may  see  the  hole  where  the 
Indians  ground  their  corn.  This  hole  is  cut  out  of  the 
rock  and  is  about  two  feet  deep.  The  hole  is  round.  Men 
say  that  the  Indians  put  their  corn  into  the  deep  hole  in 
the  rock  and  then  took  a  rock  hammer  and  beat  the  corn 
into  meal.  The  hole  is  about  six  inches  in  diameter  at  the 
top  and  probably  twelve  inches  in  diameter  at  the  bottom. 
It  looks  something  like  a  vase.  It  will  probably  hold  a 
bushel. 

The  information  about  the  above  hole  in  the  rock  where 
the  Indians  ground  their  corn  was  given  to  the  writer  by 
David  M.  Matherly  of  Jennings  township,  one  of  the  teach- 
ers of  Crawford  County. 


ODDS  AND  ENDS  565 

MEXICAN    WAR   LETTER 

State  of  Indiana, 
Orange  County, 
Nov.  20,  1846. 
Dear  Father : 

I  embrace  this  opportunity  of  informing  you  that 
mother,  the  children  and  I  are  all  well  at  present.  Thanks 
be  to  God  for  favoring  us  with  such  glorious  health.  None 
of  us  ha'nt  been  sick  since  you  all  left  home,  hoping  that 
these  few  lines  may  find  you  all  well. 

Thomas  B.  McDonald  is  a  good  boy  to  do  what  I  tell 
him  and  says  that  he  wants  you  to  bring  him  a  Mexican 
gun  and  that  he  wants  to  see  you  very  much  when  you 
come  home. 

I  have  gathered  and  bust  my  corn  about  five  hundred 
bushels.  I  had  three  wagon  loads  over  a  crib  full.  I  sowed 
some  wheat  and  it  looks  tolerably  well.  You  wrote  to  me 
to  sell  some  of  the  cattle  if  I  could  do  so.  I  sold  five  head 
for  money  and  work.  There  is  not  so  much  mast  as  we 
thought  there  was. 

My  hogs  are  getting  in  purty  good  order,  though  I  am 
going  to  put  them  up  soon. 

I  wrote  to  you  that  I  had  made  a  trade  with  Elias 
Newkirk  to  build  a  chimney  to  the  loom-house.  I  inform 
you  that  he  got  it  half  built  when  he  took  sick  about  five 
weeks  ago  and  is  not  able  to  work  any  yet. 

I  sold  a  heifer  to  Uncle  Abner  McDonald  for  a  brass 
clock.  I  felt  so  lonesome  of  nights  when  I  would  wake  up 
and  not  know  what  time  it  was.  Let  him  have  the  one  you 
got  from  him  back. 


566  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Louisa  is  well  and  "harty"  and  can  run  and  play  with 
Mary- Ann.  I  am  here  at  all  times  adoeing  the  best  I  can 
for  you  till  you  get  home. 

I  received  six  letters  from  you  that  gave  me  great  satis- 
faction to  hear  from  you  all  three  by  mail,  one  by  Harve 
Morris  and  two  by  Colonel  William  A.  Bowles.  This  is 
five  letters  I  have  written  to  you. 

Uncle  Clement  and  Hawn  landed  at  Uncle  Abner  Mc- 
Donald's in  17  days  and  as  it  happened  I  was  there  when 
he  came  next  day.  They  went  to  Captain  McDonald's  and 
the  next  day  they  started  home.  They  were  tolerably 
poorly  though  they  said  they  were  getting  along  well. 
Health  is  good  here  at  this  time.  It  is  tolerably  cold  to- 
day. 

So  nothing  more  at  present  but  write  to  me  as  often 
conveniently  will  permit  you  to.  Love  to  hear  from  you 
all.  So  I  will  subscribe  myself,  yours  till  death.  This 
from  William  McDonald,  Harriett  McDonald,  Lavina  Mc- 
Donald, William  McDonald,  Harriett  McDonald,  Fanny 
McDonald,  Thomas  McDonald,  Mary  McDonald  and  Louisa 
McDonald  to  his  father,  Eli  McDonald. 
P.  S. 

George  Teaford  he  let  me  have  2  bushels  of  May  wheat 
to  sow  and  I  sowed  it  and  it  looks  tolerably  well.  He  is 
cleverer  a  man  than  I  thought  he  was.  He  said  form  me 
to  give  their  respects  to  you  and  my  uncle  in  my  letters 
he  has  for  me. 

William  Ditte  is  about  to  make  up  a  school  for  us  and 
he  says  for  me  to  give  his  best  regards  to  you. 

I  will  say  a  few  things  about  my  connections.  Dear 
Uncle  I  now  take  the  opportunity  of  informing  you  that 


ODDS  AND  ENDS  567 

[your  families  is  all  enjoying  good  health  at  this  time.  Tell 
Uncle  McDonald  that  we  need  him  here  to  help  skin  the 
Whigs  and  Tories  for  they  have  come  to  life  again  and 
say  that  the  war  is  unjust  and  that  the  Democrats  caused 
it  and  now  the  Whigs  has  to  fight  it. 

Dear  Cousin :  I  take  my  pen  in  hand  to  inform  you 
that  your  families  people  are  enjoying  good  health  at  this 
time.  Give  my  respects  to  all  my  old  friends.  Nothing 
more  at  this  time. 

Tell  Abner  Mayfield  that  his  mother  is  enjoying  health 
as  far  as  I  know. 

Tell  David  Apple  that  his  father  and  brothers  is  well 
at  present. 

Tell  Martin  Gobble  that  his  fathers  and  brothers  and 
wife  is  well  at  present.  Tell  him  that  Hiram  is  married. 
So  I  will  say  nothing  more  at  present. 

Tell  Stallcup  and  J.  Palmore  that  their  families  are 
well. 

Tell  Elisha  Pruitt  and  James  Dooley  that  their  fam- 
ilies are  well  at  present. 

I  wrote  this  letter  by  candle  light.  Give  my  respects  to 
all  inquiring  friends. 

The  above  letter  was  written  to  Eli  McDonald,  who  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  War.  Mr.  McDonald,  who  lives 
near  Taswell,  furnished  the  writer  the  above  copy  from 
the  original  letter.  Mr.  A.  W.  Stroud  copied  it  for  Mr. 
Pleasant  June  13,  1920.  The  above  T.  J.  McDonald  is  the 
grandson  of  Eli  McDonald. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

The  campaign  in  Crawford  County  was  fought  out  in 
1918  under  the  new  primary  system. 

Not  many  contests  occurred  among  the  Republicans. 
For  clerk,  A.  N.  Bobbitt  and  John  Sloan  were  the  con- 
testants. For  county  assessor,  William  Fesler  of  Jennings 
township  and  Sherrod  King  were  aspirants.  The  candi- 
dates for  the  other  offices  were  unopposed. 

The  main  fight  occurred  between  Sloan  and  Bobbitt. 
Sloan  belonged  to  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  respected 
families  of  the  county,  one  of  whom  was  J.  G.  Sloan,  who 
defeated  Sam  Sands  for  representative  in  Crawford  County 
in  1840.  At  that  time  Sloan  was  a  Whig  and  Sands  was  a 
Democrat,  Locofoco,  or  V.  B.  (Van  Buren).  In  the  cam- 
paign of  1840  Sloan  was  elected  by  seventeen  votes. 

Bobbitt  was  a  young  man  who  had  taught  school  two 
or  three  years.  He  gained  strength  as  he  ran.  He  was  the 
son  of  Irvin  Bobbitt  of  Eckerty  and  a  nephew  of  Elder 
James  Bobbitt,  who  for  many  years  was  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  the  county. 

The  Democratic  party  had  a  real  love  feast  that  year. 
The  leading  candidates  for  the  various  offices  were : 

Congress,  W.  E.  Cox,  J.  L.  O'Bannon  and  Robert  C. 
Brown;  state  senator,  Joseph  Hirsch  and  S.  A.  Beals; 
prosecutor,   Charles  Brown  and  Floyd  Cody;  representa- 

568 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  569 

tiye,  Sam  Benz  and  W.  R.  Colglazier;  clerk,  J.  Ed.  Ross 
and  A.  G.  Stephenson;  treasurer,  J.  F.  Jones  and  J.  Ben- 
ton Pierson;  recorder,  Lloyd  Froman,  W.  W.  Myler,  A.  R. 
Reason  and  J.  B.  Wood;  county  assessor,  L.  V.  Byrum, 
Benton  Longest,  Alva  Roberson  and  John  Ritchie. 

Much  bitterness  existed  among  certain  candidates  in 
the  assessor's  race. 

The  primary,  which  was  held  on  May  7,  1918,  showed 
that  each  received  the  following  votes : 

Congress,  Cox  810,  O'Bannon  129,  and  Brown  85;  state 
senator,  Beals  754  and  Hirsch  216 ;  prosecutor,  Brown  644 
and  Cody  364;  representative,  Benz  799  and  Colglazier 
204;  clerk,  Ed.  Ross  650  and  Stephenson  346;  treasurer, 
Jones  555  and  Pierson  428 ;  recorder,  Froman  501,  Myler 
281,  Reason  92  and  Wood  141 ;  county  assessor,  Longest 
409,  Byrum  222,  Roberson  222  and  Ritchie  212. 

On  the  Republican  side :  Clerk,  Bobbitt  304  and  Sloan 
240:  county  assessor,  Fesler  430  and  King  94. 

The  candidate  who  received  the  largest  number  of  votes 
in  each  case  was  the  nominee. 

During  the  summer  Bobbitt  withdrew  from  the  ticket 
and  entered  the  Navy  to  fight  for  his  country.  The  county 
central  committee  selected  John  Sloan  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

The  November  election  was  not  so  successful  to  the 
Democrats.  They  elected  all  the  county  ticket  except  James 
Jones,  who  was  defeated  by  James  Smith.  Mr.  Lincoln 
defeated  Charles  Brown  for  prosecutor.  Dunbar  of  New 
Albany  defeated  Congressman  Cox,  while  Mr.  Beals  of 
English  was  defeated  by  a  narrow  margin  of  votes. 

The  following  trustees  were  elected: 


570  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Boone,  E.  E.  Parr,  Republican;  Jennings,  John  Mc- 
intosh, Democrat;  Johnson,  Reuben  Cox,  Republican;  Lib- 
erty, Halleck  Miller,  Republican;  Ohio,  J.  P.  Rainforth, 
Republican ;  Patoka,  Joseph  Riley,  Democrat ;  Sterling, 
Charles  Miller,  Democrat;  Union,  C.  E.  Ford,  Republican; 
Whisky  Run,  John  W.  Ferguson,  Democrat. 

Later  Ferguson  resigned  and  Willard  Vance  was  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  vacancy. 

The  primary  in  1920  was  held  on  May  4th.  As  usual 
the  Democrats  had  a  lively  primary.  Jones  of  English  and 
Pierson  of  Marengo  were  the  candidates  for  treasurer. 
Jenkins  and  Froman  were  the  leading  candidates  for 
county  commissioner. 

The  vote  given  each  candidate  is  listed  below: 

Representative,  Benz,  619,  Colglazier  100;  treasurer, 
Jones,  358,  Pierson  367 ;  commissioner,  Froman  288,  H. 
Jenkins  362;  governor,  Isenbarger  88,  McCulloch  182, 
Risk  103,  Niblack  287;  congress,  Buskirk  41,  Brown  21, 
iEwing  381,  Minton  210,  O'Bannon  97. 

The  Republicans  filled  their  ticket  with  few  contests. 
J.  W.  Bird  of  Marengo  and  T.  S.  Austin  of  English  were 
candidates  for  treasurer.  Hiser  and  Johnson  were  can- 
didates for  commissioner.  The  result  of  the  primary 
showed  that  each  man  had  received  the  following  votes: 

Treasurer,  Austin  317,  Bird  135 ;  commissioners,  Hiser 
292,  Johnson  128;  for  president,  Harding  37,  Johnson  97, 
Lowden  115,  Leonard  Wood  222 ;  governor,  Fesler  166,  Mc- 
Cray  247,  Toner  46. 

The  complete  tickets  were : 

President — Warren  Harding,  Republican,  2,290;  James 
M.  Cox,  Democrat,  2,193. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  571 

Governor— Warren  T.  McCray,  Republican,  2,287; 
Carleton  McCulloch,  Democrat,  2,190. 

Congress — James  W.  Punbar,  Republican,  2,296;  John 
Ewing,  Democrat,  2,254. 

United  States  Senate — James  Watson,  Republican, 
2,290;  Thomas  Taggart,  Democrat,  2,177. 

Judge — Thomas  Wilson,  Republican,  2,222;  Win.  Rid- 
ley, Democrat,  2,286. 

Prosecutor — Philip  Seacat,  Republican,  2,147;  Elimore 
Crecelius,  Democrat,  2,351. 

Auditor— Archie  Bobbitt,  Republican,  2,270;  Ora  Tad- 
lock,  Democrat,  2,267. 

Treasurer — T.  S.  Austin,  Republican,  2,245 ;  J.  B.  Pier- 
son,  Democrat,  2,256. 

Sheriff—  H.  M.  Rainforth,  Republican,  2,228;  S.  M. 
Cunningham,  Democrat,  2,292. 

County  Commissioner — Joseph  Hiser,  Republican, 
2,263 ;  Henry  Jenkins,,  Democrat,  2,221. 

County  Commissioner — Chas.  Lane,  Republican,  2,396; 
Zimmerman,  2,105. 

Representative — Hays,  Republican,  2,202 ;  Sam  Benz, 
Democrat,  2,286. 

After  a  very  thorough  canvass,  in  which  much  speaking 
was  done  on  each  side,  the  election  was  a  landslide  for  the 
Republicans.  The  vote  on  the  state  ticket  was  about  one 
hundred  Republican.  The  vote  of  each  candidate  as  far 
as  available,  is  placed  after  the  man's  name  above. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1921  a  large  crowd 
of  citizens  near  Pleasant  Ridge  planned  an  old-fashioned 
barbecue.    The  committee  selected  the  site  for  the  occasion 


572  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

on  the  hill  above  Schooner  Point.  Uncle  Richard  Pierson, 
who  was  an  old  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  was  selected  to 
manage  the  cooking.  He  went  to  work  with  a  will  and 
managed  the  cooking  well.  A  large  crowd  of  citizens  was 
present.  Reverend  Stamm  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of 
English,  who  was  present,  delivered  an  oration.  George 
Morris  was  chairman  of  the  day.  This  was  the  first  bar- 
becue held  in  the  county  since  1900,  when  one  was  held 
at  the  Rocks  on  Blue  River  above  Leavenworth. 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  had  been  working  for 
better  roads.  Doctor  Deen  of  Leavenworth  was  one  of  the 
men  to  whom  more  credit  is  due  than  most  men  allow  him. 
At  his  request  H.  H.  Pleasant  drew  a  map  of  Crawford 
County  and  sent  it  to  Governor  McCray.  On  this  map  the 
road  from  Leavenworth  to  Sulphur  was  indicated,  and  the 
road  from  English  coming  by  Grantsburg  was  outlined. 
The  Governor  replied  to  the  letter  stating  that  he  had 
turned  the  map  over  to  the  Highway  Commission.  Later 
the  commission  allowed  the  two  roads  which  have  been  un- 
der construction  for  several  years. 

The  good  people  of  Mifflin  turned  out  well  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  Sam  McKinsey,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  World 
War  on  December  26,  1921.  He  had  been  overseas  many 
months,  during  which  time  he  was  wounded  three  times. 
One  time  he  was  shot  through  the  body.  Later  he  was 
"gassed."  After  returning  to  America  he  became  worse. 
He  was  taken  to  the  Deaconess  Hospital  at  Evansville 
where  he  died  December  24,  1921.  He  had  been  married 
to  Miss  Eva  Redden  some  time  in  the  spring  of  1921.  He 
was  buried  in  the  Pleasant  Ridge  cemetery  in  Union  town- 
ship. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  573 

Another  Crawford  County  boy,  about  whom  not  much 
has  been  said,  is  Cecil  Bird.  He  was  wounded  in  the 
charge  across  "No  Man's  Land."  A  big  piece  of  shell 
was  shot  through  his  arm.  He  retreated  as  far  as  he  could 
and  lay  down  suffering  intense  pain.  While  he  was  lying 
there  an  officer  came  along  and  saw  him  and  said:  "What 
are  you  doing  there?"  On  hearing  Bird's  reply  he  cried 
out  that  "you  had  better  get  out  of  there  and  run  for  the 
rear  or  the  Germans  will  get  you.  They  are  coming  right 
back. ' '  Bird  arose  and  made  his  way  the  best  he  could  till 
the  ambulance  found  him  and  hauled  him  away.  Bird 
lived  south  of  Milltown  about  five  miles. 

In  1921  a  new  bridge  was  built  over  the  creek  at  Indian 
Hollow  which  is  about  one  mile  west  of  Leavenworth.  Bids 
were  received  and  opened  on  May  2,  1921.  The  contract 
was  to  be  awarded  to  the  lowest  responsible  bidder.  The 
International  Steel  and  Iron  Company  of  Evansville  was 
awarded  the  contract. 

The  last  bridge  built  there  had  fallen  down.  The 
material  out  of  which  it  was  constructed  was  not  suitable. 
The  Evansville  company  went  to  work  with  a  will.  Yet 
the  citizens  were  not  satisfied.  John  W.  Fisher  watched 
them  for  some  time  to  see  that  the  men  mixed  the  proper 
amount  of  sand  and  cement.  The  bridge  was  completed  in 
the  summer  of  1921  but  trouble  arose.  Men  said  that  it 
was  not  built  according  to  the  specifications.  The  claim  of 
$4,500  for  the  bridge  was  not  allowed  by  the  commissioners. 
The  matter  was  carried  to  the  State  Board  of  Accounts. 
That  body  sent  A.  L.  Donaldson,  who  was  a  civil  engineer, 
to  Leavenworth  to  examine  the  bridge.  On  December  1, 
1921,  he  made  an  extended  report  to  Jesse  Eschback,  field 


574  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

examiner.  From  that  report  the  following  is  taken:  "The 
records  show  that  the  contract  was  awarded  to  the  Inter- 
national Steel  and  Iron  Company  of  Evansville  for  a  sum 
of  $4,500.  The  bid  is  written  in  ink  except  the  amount  and 
signature  which  is  written  with  pencil.  The  contract  was 
indefinite.  The  engineer  claimed  that  he  did  not  put  the 
figures  on  the  plan  and  did  not  know  who  did  but  just 
guessed  at  the  height  of  the  abutments.  The  company's 
part  of  the  contract  was  indefinite,  too."  The  specification 
for  the  steel  structure  read :  ' '  The  bridge  shall  be  sixty 
feet  long  and  have  a  roadway  fourteen  feet  wide.  The 
bridge  was  to  be  pinned  or  riveted  but  found  to  be  bolted. 
The  bridge  was  also  out  of  line.  That  no  pay  shall  be  given 
for  the  work  till  the  engineer  certifies  that  the  work  has 
been  built  according  to  the  contract." 

Much  confusion  arose  and  the  bridge  was  not  used  for 
a  while  until  the  commissioners  finally  paid  for  the  bridge. 
The. same  company  built  one  over  a  creek  west  of  Marengo 
about  two  miles  while  this  quarrel  was  going  on.  The  com- 
pany certainly  did  a  good  piece  of  work  there,  hoping,  no 
doubt,  that  this  might  influence  the  commissioners  in  the 
other  case. 

New  pike  contracts  were  awarded  to  Samuel  R.  Bird 
and  Martin  Laswell  to  build  roads  in  Jennings  and  Ohio 
townships.  Bird's  road  ran  from  the  Peabody  crossroads 
to  Fredonia.  Laswell  had  charge  of  the  pike  in  Ohio 
township  at  Riddle.  Bird's  contract  was  given  on  June  6, 
1921. 

The  Omer  Sturgeon  and  Herschel  Rainforth  pike, 
which  had  been  built,  ran  from  Fredonia  to  Schooner 
Point. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  575 

The  William  Boss  road  in  Whisky  Run  township  was 
approved.  D.  M.  Miller  and  John  K.  Batman  were  ap- 
pointed road  reviewers  for  the  road  in  Liberty  and  Whisky 
Run  townships  on  April  8,  1921. 

Also  W.  Y.  Lance  was  appointed  superintendent  of 
construction  of  the  Zimmerman  and  Jacob  Eckerty  for  the 
E.  T.  McFarland  road. 

The  road  connecting  English  and  Marengo  was  finished 
in  1922  and  an  extension  running  from  Mr.  Bosley's  to 
white  oak  hill  was  completed. 

The  greatest  road  contract  for  the  year  of  1922  was 
awarded  to  Wolf  Brothers  of  New  Albany.  The  men  were 
to  re-surface  the  road  from  Leavenworth  to  Marengo,  for 
which  they  were  to  receive  about  $43,000.  The  work  was 
not  completed  till  late  in  the  summer.  In  some  places  men 
said  that  the  contractors  did  not  put  the  rocks  thick 
enough.  The  men  were  finally  paid  for  the  road,  but  much 
hard  feeling  existed  among  the  taxpayers. 

The  pike  road  running  from  Riddle  south  toward 
Beechwood  was  completed  about  1923  and  the  road  run- 
ning from  Burnett's  schoolhouse  across  to  Grantsburg  was 
finished.  The  Schooner  Point  road  was  completed  by  H.  M. 
Rainforth  and  Omer  Sturgeon  the  year  of  1923. 

Work  on  the  state  roads  was  progressing  nicely  by 
1923.  Road  from  Corydon  went  through  Leavenworth, 
then  out  the  English  road  for  about  one  mile;  then  west 
by  Beechwood.  The  state  road  No.  22  came  south  through 
English  and  Grantsburg  and  intersected  state  road  No.  16 
near  the  Wiseman  schoolhouse.  Much  hard  work  was  done 
by  the  men  when  they  built  the  bridge  over  Turkey  Fork 
at  Princeton  Ford. 


576  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

During  1922  and  1923  the  Government  dam  at  Leaven- 
worth was  booming.  Several  hundred  men  were  employed 
to  accomplish  the  feat.  The  little  town  of  Leavenworth 
was  a  busy  place  again.  Besides  the  Christian  men  and 
women,  who  were  so  helpful  in  the  church  work,  many 
undesirables  ones  came.  The  order  in  the  town  was  not 
enforced  very  well. 

The  canning  factory  at  Marengo,  which  was  reorgan- 
ized in  1916,  was  running  full  time  in  1923  and  1924. 
More  tomato  pulp  was  turned  out  in  1924  from  this  factory 
than  any  other  factory  in  the  United  States.  There  was  a 
great  market  for  tomatoes.  Many  farmers  made  consider- 
able money  by  growing  tomatoes. 

The  campaign  of  1922  was  an  interesting  one  in  Craw- 
ford County.  The  Democrats  and  Republicans  were 
anxious  for  office.  For  senator,  Howard,  Ralston,  Sanders, 
Shively  and  Simms  entered  the  race.  For  congress,  Brown 
and  Ewing  were  rivals.  For  recorder  Myler,  Belcher,  Doo- 
ley,  Dicus,  Bird  and  Harvey  were  aspirants.  Ingle,  Owen 
Johnson  and  Green  Satterfield  were  running  for  sheriff. 
For  county  assessor,  S.  K.  Breeden,  Jobe,  and  Benton 
Longest  were  candidates.     Other  officers  were  unopposed. 

For  the  township  offices  many  bitter  contests  were 
waged.  In  Jennings  township  Jesse  Dean  filed  for  trustee. 
Then  Rufus  Temple  and  John  Mcintosh  entered  the  race. 
For  a  long  time  the  race  was  in  doubt  but  near  the  close 
of  the  campaign  the  tide  turned  for  Dean,  who  was  a 
prominent  farmer  living  near  Tower.  For  township  asses- 
sor, Leland  Adams,  D.  M.  Stephenson  and  Ishmael  Carver 
were  running.     The  primary  resulted  in  the  nomination 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  577 

of  Dean  for  trustee  and  Carver  for  assessor  by  large 
pluralities.    Much  hard  feeling  existed  after  the  campaign. 

The  candidates  for  trustee  in  Whisky  Run  township 
were  Willard  Vance,  Perry  Walts  and  Mr.  Summers.  A 
bitter  fight  was  waged  for  the  nomination.  Vance,  who  had 
been  appointed  trustee  when  Mr.  Ferguson  resigned,  was 
nominated  by  a  large  majority. 

In  Union  township  Henry  Knight  and  Arthur  Johnson 
were  candidates  for  trustee,  while  E.  D.  Baggerly  and  Or- 
ville  Mullen  were  candidates  for  assessor.  When  the  vote 
was  counted  Knight  and  Mullen  were  nominated  for  trus- 
tee and  assessor. 

Curtis  Bennett,  Cyrus  Mills  and  Willie  Longest  were 
candidates  for  trustee  in  Sterling  township.  The  fight  re- 
sulted in  the  nomination  of  Bennett. 

Patoka  township  had  three  candidates  for  trustee : 
Charles  A.  Miller,  Clad  Murray,  Charles  A.  Tucker.  For 
assessor,  Aaron  Crews  and  Charles  Huff  were  candidates. 
Clad  Murray  defeated  his  opponents  for  trustee,  while 
Huff  was  the  nominee  for  assessor. 

A  bitter  contest  was  waged  in  Johnson  township.  Lee 
Wright,  Wm.  Cummins  and  Silas  Cook  were  candidates. 
Wright  defeated  his  opponents  by  a  good  margin. 

On  the  Republican  side  many  candidates  were  out.  In 
Boone  township  Clay  Kemp  and  Roy  Brooks  were  the 
leading  candidates. 

In  Liberty  township  Halleck  Miller,  John  Ross,  Clark 
Sloan  and  Wellman  Bosley  were  out  for  the  office. 

In  Ohio  township  George  Morris,  John  Crecelius  and 
David  Hedden  were  candidates. 


578  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

In  Union  township  Ernest  Eaton,  Arthur  Goldman  and 
Mr.  Wright  were  candidates. 

Chester  Lamon,  Sherman  Jones  and  Daniel  Fields  were 
candidates  in  Johnson  township. 

The  candidates  in  many  of  the  other  townships  had  no 
opponents. 

The  primary  day  drew  near  and  the  men  labored  hard 
to  convince  the  people  that  they  were  the  ones  for  whom 
the  people  ought  to  vote. 

The  candidates  for  the  senate  were  New  and  Beveridge. 

The  candidates  for  sheriff  were  Rainforth,  Smith  and 
Wm.  Lee  of  Milltown. 

For  recorder,  Parker,  Merryman  and  Mrs.  Roberson 
were  candidates.  Mrs.  Roberson  was  the  first  woman  can- 
didate to  run  for  office  in  the  county.  Her  husband  had 
lost  his  eyesight  by  a  premature  explosion  while  working 
on  the  public  road.  Naturally  she  made  a  strong  appeal 
to  the  voters. 

For  commissioner  of  the  second  district  Charles  Lane 
and  Mr.  Newton  were  candidates. 

For  commissioner  of  the  third  district  Balding  and 
Doolittle  were  candidates. 

The  people  went  to  the  polls  on  May  2,  1922,  and 
selected  their  candidates.  Below  is  the  vote.  The  one  who 
has  the  largest  vote  in  is  the  nominee : 

United  States  Senator — Howard,  Democrat,  120; 
Shively,  Democrat,  120;  Ralston,  Democrat,  1,088;  San- 
ders, Democrat,  172;  Simms,  Democrat,  138;  Beveridge, 
Republican,  618;  New,  Republican,  756. 

Congress — Brown,  Democrat,  298;  Ewing,  Democrat, 
1,400;  Lambdin,  Republican,  1,094. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  579 

Joint  Senator — Ernie,  Democrat,  1,072;  McCullough, 
Republican,  880. 

Joint  Representative — Bierly,  Democrat,  1,072 ;  Sieg, 
Republican,  413 ;  Wiseman,  Republican,  714. 

Clerk — Ed.  Ross,  Democrat,  1,517 ;  Claude  Carter,  Re- 
publican, 979. 

Treasurer — Benton  Pierson,  Democrat,  1,422 ;  T.  S. 
Austin,  Republican,  1,111. 

Sheriff — Ingle,  Democrat,  172 ;  Johnson,  Democrat, 
090;  Satterfield,  Democrat,  812;  Wm.  Lee,  Republican, 
326 ;  H.  Rainforth,  Republican,  716 ;  Smith,  Republican, 
434. 

Recorder — Belcher,  Democrat,  419 ;  Bird,  Democrat, 
350 ;  Dicus,  Democrat,  237 ;  Harvey,  Democrat,  219 ;  Doo- 
ley,  Democrat,  361 ;  Myler,  Democrat,  406 ;  Merryman,  Re- 
publican, 207 ;  Parker,  Republican,  278 ;  Roberson,  Repub- 
lican, 1,031. 

Coroner — Bolden,  Democrat,  1,182 ;  Crawford,  Repub- 
lican, 929. 

Surveyor — Sam  Tucker,  Democrat,  1,208;  Deich,  Re- 
publican, 959. 

County  Assessor — Breeden,  Democrat,  643 ;  Jobe,  Dem- 
ocrat, 705 ;  Longest,  525 ;  Alderson,  575 ;  Benham,  647. 

County  Commissioner,  Second  District — Brown,  Demo- 
crat, 730 ;  Reasar,  Democrat,  877 ;  Lane,  Republican,  723 ; 
Newton,  Republican,  433. 

County  Commissioner  Third  District — Felker,  Demo- 
crat, 1,085 ;  Balding,  Republican,  555 ;  Doolittle,  Repub- 
lican, 592. 

The  candidates  for  trustee  of  each  township  are  listed 
here : 


580  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Boone — Sydney  Purcell,  Democrat;  Clay  Kemp,  Re- 
publican. 

Jennings — Jesse  Dean,  Democrat;  William  Fesler, 
Republican. 

Johnson — Lee  Wright,  Democrat;  Chester  Lamon,  Re- 
publican. 

Liberty — Ott  Hanger,  Democrat;  Halleck  Miller,  Re- 
publican. 

Ohio — No  Democratic  candidate;  John  Crecelius,  Re- 
publican. 

Sterling — Curtis    Bennett,    Democrat;    Standi- 

ford,  Republican. 

Patoka — Clad  Murray,  Democrat;  Ed.  Ridenour,  Re- 
publican. 

Union — Henry  Knight,  Democrat;  Arthur  Goldman, 
Republican. 

Whisky  Run — Willard  Vance,  Democrat;  Ollie  Boldt, 
Republican. 

The  candidates  for  assessor  were : 

Boone —  East,  Democrat;  Jesse  Wiseman,  Re- 
publican. 

Jennings — Ishmael  Carver,  Democrat ;  John  Saltsgaver, 
Republican. 

Johnson Kendall,  Democrat;  Brown, 

Republican. 

Liberty — No  Democratic  candidate;  Mitch  Stewart,  Re- 
publican. 

Patoka — C.  E.  Huff,  Democrat;  Joseph  Suddarth,  Re- 
publican. 

Union Mullen,  Democrat ;  Powell,  Re- 
publican. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  581 

Sterling —  Standiford,  Democrat;  No  Repub- 
lican candidate. 

One  ought  to  say  a  few  words  about  the  defeated  can- 
didates who  were  excellent  men.  Several  were  defeated  by 
a  narrow  margin.  Much  dissatisfaction  existed  among  the 
candidates  of  Boone,  Jennings,  Liberty  and  Union  town- 
ships. In  Boone  many  Republicans  voted  for  Purcell,  who 
was  the  Democratic  candidate.  The  Birkla  trouble  influ- 
anced  many  voters,  some  men  thought.  As  far  as  known 
Boone  township  has  not  elected  a  Democratic  trustee  since 
the  Civil  War,  but  Purcell,  who  was  a  clean  gentleman, 
made  a  great  race. 

In  Liberty  township  much  hard  feeling  existed  over  the 
primary  among  the  Republicans.  Miller,  who  was  an  ex- 
cellent man  and  had  made  a  good  trustee  for  four  years, 
was  not  able  to  hold  the  party  together.  Certain  factions 
were  angry  because  he  did  not  open  certain  schools  which 
had  been  closed  for  several  years.  To  this  dissatisfaction 
the  Democrats  played  a  joke  on  the  Republicans  by  en- 
dorsing Mitch  Stewart  for  assessor.  Stewart  had  been  a 
hard  worker  for  the  party  and  had  been  postmaster  for  a 
long  time  in  Marengo,  but  now  he  was  in  a  queer  position 
and  could  not  do  much  for  the  party. 

The  contest  in  Union  was  a  hot  one.  Goldman  might 
have  been  elected,  but  all  over  the  county  the  absent  voters' 
law  was  abused,  and  Goldman,  who  was  a  good  man,  could 
not  hold  the  friends  of  the  defeated  candidates  together. 

Boldt  made  a  strong  race  in  Whisky  Run  township, 
but  lost  the  north  precinct  and  was  defeated  by  Willard 
Vance  by  thirty-seven  votes.     Much   confusion   arose  up 


582  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

there.  Vance  and  Seacat  had  a  little  fight  one  day  when 
striking  proofs  and  knock  down  arguments  were  used. 

The  closest  race  was  in  Johnson  township.  Wright, 
who  had  been  trustee  for  one  term  before,  was  nominated 
again.  The  Republicans  had  nominated  Chester  Lamon, 
who  was  a  young  man  of  about  twenty-nine  years  old,  but 
he  was  a  good  organizer,  and  with  the  help  of  his  friends, 
held  the  Republicans  together  and  at  the  same  time  made 
inroads  on  the  Democrats,  many  of  whom  voted  for  Lamon. 

The  Republican  county  central  committee  made  a  hard 
fight  for  the  party,  while  the  Democrats,  under  the  chair- 
manship of  Mr.  Brown,  who  was  a  master  politician,  met 
the  issue. 

Mrs.  Roberson  made  a  hard  fight  for  the  office  of  re- 
corder, but  Belcher  gained  strength  the  last  few  days  and 
defeated  her. 

The  final  vote  in  November  showed  these  men  were 
elected :  The  entire  county  ticket  on  the  Democratic  side 
and  all  the  trustees  but  Crecelius  and  Lamon.  Ross  car- 
ried the  county  by  eight  hundred  votes  and  Belcher  by  one 
hundred  and  seven  votes. 

Lamon,  on  the  face  of  the  returns,  defeated  Wright  by 
three  votes.  The  Democrats  demanded  a  recount  in  John- 
son township.  Judge  Wilson  appointed  Leonard  Cummins, 
Elwood  Boyd  and  John  Wright  to  count  the  vote.  After 
careful  counting  the  new  board  declared  Lamon  elected  by 
nine  votes. 

The  Democrats  had  given  the  Republicans  a  terrific 
beating,  but  the  party  lived  over  it. 

The  new  law  relative  to  the  amount  of  the  state  aid 
was  made  more  strict  in  1921  and  1922.     The  ruling  of  the 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  583 

state  required  all  the  schools  to  score  fifty  points  on  the 
designated  score  card.  It  was  a  hard  blow  to  the  schools 
in  Crawford  County.  At  that  time  not  many  of  the  schools 
would  score  fifty  points.  The  patrons  of  the  schools  rallied 
with  willing  hands  to  help  in  any  way  they  could.  Meet- 
ings were  held  and  working  days  appointed  on  which 
patrons  labored  to  improve  the  schools.  Pilot  Knob  and 
Pleasant  Ridge  school  at  Myers  held  working  days,  the  din- 
ner being  furnished  by  the  ladies  of  the  community. 
County  Agent  Copeland  and  Superintendent  Pleasant  were 
present  at  the  Myers  school.  Fredonia,  Dillman  and 
many  other  schools  labored  with  a  will  to  make  the 
schools  score.  County  Superintendent  Pleasant  estimated 
that  the  work  done  in  Crawford  County  by  donation  was 
two  thousand  dollars.  When  the  time  came  for  the  schools 
to  score  all  made  a  score  of  fifty  points  or  more.  Mae 
McFarland,  who  taught  at  Crecelius  school  that  year,  was 
the  first  school  teacher  to  get  her  school  to  score  the  fifty 
points. 

Early  in  the  year  of  1923  the  basket  factory  at  English 
burned  down.  Soon  a  large  number  of  men  was  employed 
to  clean  off  the  debris.  The  company  put  up  a  new  factory 
and  were  running  again  by  May  1st. 

The  Farm  Federation  of  Crawford  County  since  the 
coming  of  the  county  agent  had  made  much  progress.  A 
meeting  was  held  at  English  Saturday,  December  30,  1922, 
when  A.  G.  Stephenson  was  elected  chairman ;  Henry  Bald- 
ing, vice-chairman ;  Ira  Haycock,  secretary,  and  Alva  Rob- 
erson,  treasurer.  Meetings  were  held  in  various  parts  of  the 
county  where  farm  topics  were  discussed  by  learned  men 
from  Purdue  and  other  schools. 


584  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  county  commissioners  held  a  meeting  at  English  on 
the  first  Monday  in  January,  1923.  The  board  organized 
by  electing  Joseph  Hiser,  president.  The  bonds  of  the  new 
county  and  township  officers  were  approved. 

The  trustee's  office  in  Jennings  township  became  vacant 
in  January,  1923.  Jesse  Dean,  who  had  been  elected  trus- 
tee of  Jennings  township  over  William  Fesler  by  eleven 
votes,  came  to  English  and  resigned  his  office.  The  auditor 
of  the  county  being  a  Republican  appointed  William  Fes- 
ler to  fill  out  the  unexpired  term  of  Mr.  Dean.  Mr.  Fesler 
came  to  Leavenworth  and  filed  his  bond  and  assumed  the 
office.  The  Democrats  of  the  township  were  a  little  angry 
about  the  matter,  but  Mr.  Dean,  who  was  one  of  the  leading 
farmers,  never  asked  their  advice. 

It  was  not  long  till  Willard  Vance,  trustee  of  Whisky 
Run  township,  sold  his  farm  and  resigned.  Mr.  Batman 
was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  when  Mr.  Vance  moved 
to  Illinois. 

In  the  summer  of  1924  Sydney  Purcell  of  Alton  sold 
out  and  prepared  to  move  to  Indianapolis.  The  trustee 
intended  to  offer  his  resignation  to  the  commissioners  and 
let  them  appoint  a  Democrat,  but  who  was  the  Democrat? 
Purcell  was  not  much  pleased  with  the  prospective  can- 
didates and  he  changed  his  mind  and  resigned  before  the 
county  auditor.  Certain  Democratic  politicians  made  a 
trip  to  Alton  but  did  not  get  any  satisfaction  out  of  Pur- 
cell. When  Bobbitt  received  the  written  resignation  from 
Purcell  he  accepted  it  and  appointed  Peter  Fullenwider 
trustee  of  Boone  township  to  fill  out  Purcell 's  unexpired 
term  of  office.     Peter  Fullenwider  belonged  to  one  of  the 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  585 

oldest  and  most  respected  families  in  Crawford   County. 
He  filed  his  bond  and  assumed  the  duty  of  the  office  at  once. 

The  pike  road  running  west  from  Leavenworth,  which 
was  to  be  built  by  John  M.  Froman,  had  never  been  com- 
pleted. Froman  had  completed  part  of  the  road,  but  due 
to  high  prices  and  the  war  he  failed  to  finish  the  work. 
Action  was  brought  about  the  matter  and  after  much  con- 
fusion it  was  decided  to  let  Martin  Laswell  build  a  road 
from  the  Leavenworth  corporation  line  to  the  intersection 
of  the  Marengo  and  Alton  road  at  Campbell's  farm  about 
two  miles  west.  This  road  was  not  completed  till  about 
1926. 

The  Longest  schoolhouse,  which  was  probably  one  of 
the  oldest  in  Crawford  County,  was  burned  down  about 
four  o'clock  Monday  morning  on  January  1,  1923.  Men 
thought  the  fire  was  caused  by  a  tramp  who  stayed  in  the 
schoolhouse  that  night.  Trustee  Bennett  had  the  building 
insured. 

The  campaign  of  1924  opened  up  with  a  spirited  pri- 
mary. The  Democrats  did  not  lack  for  candidates.  On 
the  ticket  for  Governor  were :  Batt,  Cravens,  Critten- 
berger,  Durgan,  Holt,  McCulloch,  Priest  and  Risk.  The 
primary  vote  showed  that  each  man  had  received  the  fol- 
lowing votes  :  Batt,  87  ;  Cravens,  351 ;  Crittenberger,  51 ; 
Durgan,  31;  Holt,  87;  McCulloch,  67;  Priest,  53,  and 
Risk,  48. 

For  Congress,  Erni,  Brown  and  Gardner  were  aspir- 
ants. 

For  joint  representative,  Bierly,  Brewster  and  LaHue 
were  candidates. 


586  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Sam  Vogt,  who  had  been  elected  prosecuting  attorney 
in  1922,  received  the  party's  vote  in  1924  for  renomination. 

For  county  auditor,  John  H.  Pleasant,  John  Spears  and 
A.  G.  Stephenson  were  candidates.  The  men  made  a  thor- 
ough canvass  trying  to  explain  to  the  voters  just  why  each 
one  should  be  elected. 

For  treasurer,  J.  F.  Jones,  John  Bernardi  and  W.  0. 
Beals  were  the  aspirants. 

For  sheriff,  Owen  Johnson  was  entitled  to  the  second 
nomination,  but  Bland  of  Patoka  township  announced 
against  Johnson.  Just  why  Bland  came  out  against  John- 
son no  one  can  say. 

The  other  candidates  had  no  opposition  for  renomina- 
tion. 

The  Republican  party  had  few  contests  in  the  party. 
With  the  exception  of  Hiser  and  Austin  for  treasurer  no 
contest  existed  for  any  county  office  but  the  Governor's 
race.  There  was  Bush,  Davis,  Dulberger,  Jackson,  Shank 
and  Toner. 

The  primary  was  held  on  May  6,  1924.  The  following 
figures  will  give  one  an  idea  of  how  the  votes  went : 

Governor — Bush,  Republican,  71 ;  Davis,  Republican, 
19  ;  Dulberger,  Republican,  8 ; ;  Jackson,  Republican,  278  ; 
Shank,  Republican,  30 ;  Toner,  Republican,  51 ;  Batt,  Dem- 
ocrat, 87 ;  Craven,  Democrat,  351 ;  Crittenberger,  Demo- 
crat, 57 ;  Durgan,  Democrat,  31 ;  Holt,  Democrat,  87 ;  Mc- 
Culloch,  Democrat,  451 ;  Priest,  Democrat,  53 ;  Risk,  Dem- 
ocrat, 48. 

Congress — Barlow,  Republican,  357 ;  Erni,  Democrat, 
105;  Brown,  Democrat,  85;  Gardner,  Democrat,  1,062. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  587 

Representative — Wiseman,  Republican,  357;  Bierly, 
Democrat,  211;  Brewster,  Democrat,  456;  LaHue,  Demo- 
crat, 423. 

Prosecutor — No  Republican  candidate.  (Later  Seacat 
was  put  on  the  ticket  for  the  fall  election)  ;  Sam  Vogt, 
Democrat,  856. 

Auditor— Leasor,  Republican,  363 ;  Pleasant,  Democrat, 
338;  Spears,  Democrat,  539;  Stephenson,  Democrat,  530. 

Treasurer— T.  S.  Austin,  Republican,  237;  Joseph 
Hiser,  205;  W.  0.  Beals,  Democrat,  624;  J.  F.  Jones,  Dem- 
ocrat, 260;  John  Bernardi,  469. 

Sheriff— Scott  Rothrock,  Republican,  382 ;  Bland,  Dem- 
ocrat, 302;  Owen  Johnson,  Democrat,  1,038. 

Surveyor — No  Republican  i  candidate  ;  Sam  Tucker, 
Democrat,  1,009. 

Coroner — No  Republican  candidate;  Bolden,  Democrat, 
945. 

Commissioner  of  seventh  district — Bird,  Republican, 
319 ;  Harvey,  Democrat,  920. 

Commissioner  of  second  district — Gaither,  Republican, 
333;  Felker,  Democrat,  899.  ' 

The  vote  which  each  man  received  is  placed  after  the 
man's  name. 

Many  people  in  Crawford  County  did  not  like  the 
Klan.  Not  much  is  known  about  the  Klan  in  the  county. 
Elder  Lindley  Barlow,  pastor  of  the  Christian  church  at 
•English,  was  running  for  congress.  He  had  incurred  the 
ill  will  of  all  moonshiners  and  bootleggers.  One  one  occa- 
sion in  English  when  he  was  washing  his  car  a  man  named 
Jenkins  came  up  and  dealt  him  a  blow  over  the  head, 
knocking  him  to  the  ground,  but  Barlow  rolled  out  and 


588  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

ran  to  get  his  gun.  Jenkins  laughed  about  the  matter  and 
Barlow  had  him  arrested  and  brought  before  the  squire 
who  fined  him  liberally  for  assault. 

The  Horse  Thief  Detective  Association  was  organized  in 
Crawford  County.  Andrew  Rhodes,  who  had  been  a  prom- 
inent policeman  in  Indianapolis,  was  one  of  the  leaders  in 
catching  moonshiners.  As  a  result  of  the  activities  of  the 
people  hatred  existed  over  the  Klan. 

As  the  campaign  drew  to  a  close  political  lines  were 
badly  shaken.  Archie  N.  Bobbitt,  who  had  been  elected 
district  chairman  of  the  Republican  party  to  fill  out  the 
unexpired  term  of  Mr.  Jackson,  who  was  unable  to  stem 
the  tide  despite  his  popularity  and  ability  as  a  party 
worker. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  disastrous  to  the  Repub- 
licans. The  Democrats  carried  Crawford  County  by  a 
-landslide.  The  entire  county  ticket  was  elected  by  600  to 
800  votes.  Such  numbers  are  appalling  in  Crawford 
County.  Barlow,  the  fighting  parson,  was  defeated  for 
congress  by  about  4,000  votes  in  the  district.  It  was  a 
stunning  blow  to  the  Republican  party. 

The  people  of  Crawford  County  were  much  surprised 
to  hear  that  Elmer  Stewart,  who  had  been  the  publisher  of 
the  English  News  for  many  years,  had  committed  suicide 
at  his  home  in  Louisville  on  June  20,  1925.  He  was  the 
son  of  David  M.  Stewart,  who  was  one  of  the  ' 'forty- 
niners." 

The  township  trustees  met  at  the  court  house  in  Eng- 
lish on  June  1,  1925,  to  elect  a  county  superintendent  for 
another  term.  On  the  first  ballot  John  D.  Murray  received 
all  the  votes.     Mr.  Murray  was  born  in  Patoka  township. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  589 

After  graduating  from  the  Birdseye  High  School  he  be- 
came a  teacher.  In  1924  he  completed  the  course  for  an 
A.  B.  degree  and  went  to  Colorado  where  he  taught  school 
one  year.  Mr.  Murray  is  a  conscientious  worker,  a  man  of 
high  ideals,  and  worthy  of  the  respect  and  confidence 
placed  in  him. 

Mr.  Murray  employed  Doctor  Rigdon  to  help  in  the 
county  institute.  The  teachers  were  persuaded  to  do  ex- 
tension work  in  their  institute. 

During  the  summer  of  1925  the  county  agent  interested 
the  farmers  in  a  county-wide  tuberculin  test.  The  week 
of  June  29  to  July  3  a  series  of  meetings  was  held  in  Craw- 
ford County.  The  farmers  were  anxious  to  have  the  tests 
made.  A  move  was  made  to  secure  the  appropriation  of 
money  under  the  "Carney  Act"  to  defray  the  cost.  The 
following  men  had  petitioned :  Pete  Fullenwider,  Ernest 
Cummins,  George  Lee,  A.  G.  Stephenson,  Henry  Jenkins, 
Jesse  Brown,  Atmer  Hanger,  Hugh  May,  George  Benz, 
Robert  Mills,  Thomas  Dunn,  Doctor  Lancy  Conrad,  Chris 
Seigler,  Russell  Zimmerman,  Owen  Gilmore,  E.  F.  Kaiser, 
John  Lambdin,  Ernest  Batman,  Andy  Brown,  Orville 
Polen,  J.  R.  Crews  and  W.  B.  King.  The  County  Council 
rejected  the  petition. 

The  Bird  Hollow  schoolhouse,  which  was  located  about 
four  miles  north  of  English,  burned  down  about  six  o'clock 
on  the  evening  of  October  10,  1925.  The  fire  probably 
started  from  a  defective  flue.  Trustee  Bennett  had  the 
school  insured  for  $1,200.  Trustee  Bennett  rented  Charles 
Gregory's  modern  hen-house  for  use  till  better  arrange- 
ments could  be  made. 

The  town  election  was  hotly  contested.     The  citizens 


590  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

ticket,  on  which  Claude  Stewart,  Otho  Jackson  and  W.  S. 
Stephenson  were  running  for  trustee,  was  elected  by  a 
large  majority  over  the  Republican  ticket  on  which  0.  L. 
Alderson,  J.  W.  Bird  and  Ira  Stewart  were  candidates. 
H.  W.  Key  was  elected  clerk.  At  Milltown  there  were  two 
tickets  in  the  field — the  Citizens  ticket,  on  which  Charles 
Foster,  L.  0.  Dunn  and  Edward  Gibbs  were  running  for 
trustees,  and  the  Peoples  ticket,  on  which  Albert  Judd, 
Edward  Atz  and  Robert  Baker  were  candidates  for  trustee. 
The  Citizens  ticket  was  elected  by  a  large  vote. 

The  citizens  of  Crawford  County  are  much  interested 
in  a  new  state  road  which  will  run  east  and  west  through 
Crawford  County.  This  road  will  probably  connect  Jasper 
and  Corydon.  Those  who  went  to  Indianapolis  in  Novem- 
ber, 1925,  to  meet  with  the  state  highway  commissioner 
were :  G.  B.  Hammond,  F.  R.  Gobbell,  F.  G.  Hammond, 
C.  C.  Funk,  0.  S.  Johnson,  A.  T.  Temple,  V.  C.  Deich, 
W.  J.  Hawkins,  L.  L.  Jenner,  C.  D.  Summers,  M.  V. 
Stewart,  J.  J.  Johnson,  J.  A.  Whaley,  Straude  Wiseman, 
L.  0.  Lee,  L.  0.  Dunn  and  Ollie  Sanders.  The  road  was 
assured  them  and  will  be  put  on  the  building  program  for 
1927. 

The  new  gymnasium,  which  was  built  in  English  by 
F.  G.  Hammond,  was  dedicated  Friday,  November  13,  1925, 
by  a  double-header  basketball  game  between  English  and 
Marengo.  A  large  crowd  was  present  to  see  English  de- 
feat Marengo.  The  new  gymnasium  was  much  needed  by 
the  town. 

The  father  and  son  banquet,  which  was  held  by  the  Ben 
Threlkel  Bible  class  at  Leavenworth,  November  13,  1925, 
was  an  enjoyable  event,     One  hundred  and  fifteen    people 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  591 

were  present.  The  refreshments  were  served  by  William 
Wilkins.  Elmer  Merilees,  president  of  the  elass,  gave  a 
short  message  of  welcome.  L.  H.  Conrad  gave  a  toast  to  the 
fathers.  Willard  Merrilees  responded  for  the  boys.  Then 
Ben  Threlkel  delivered  a  short  address,  at  the  close  of 
which  he  introduced  the  speaker,  Professor  Richmond,  of 
Louisville.     The  event  was  one  long  to  be  remembered. 

Milltown  was  visited  by  a  very  destructive  fire  on  No- 
vember 23,  1925.  The  slaughterhouse  and  a  large  crib 
were  discovered  on  fire  by  Henry  McWilliams,  engineer  on 
a  westbound  freight.  He  notified  Mr.  Lincoln  who  owned 
the  property.     The  loss  was  estimated  at  about  $2,000. 

The  store  of  L.  L.  Jenner  of  Marengo  was  robbed  dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1925.  A  large  quantity  of  automobile 
supplies  was  taken,  besides  many  other  things.  Later  in 
the  fall  it  was  robbed  again.  Shotguns,  knives  and  other 
articles  were  taken.  Through  both  robberies  he  lost  about 
$1,600. 

Probably  Alfred  Turley  is  one  of  the  best  business  men 
in  Crawford  County.  In  the  fall  of  1925  he  bought  out  the 
Karges  Wagon  Works  of  Evansville  and  moved  the  equip- 
ment to  English.  He  will  be  able  to  take  the  timber  from 
the  stump  and  make  every  part  of  the  wagon  made  of 
wood.    Turley 's  sawmill  will  saw  all  the  lumber  used. 

He  has  one  factory  90  feet  x  150  feet  and  two  stories 
high  for  making  hubs,  rims  and  spokes.  Turley 's  Wagon 
Factory  is  50  feet  by  200  feet  and  two  stories  high.  He 
has  several  other  large  buildings,  all  of  which  will  cover 
five  acres  of  ground.  Iron  is  about  all  Turley  needs  to  buy 
for  his  wagons. 

The  farmers'  short  course  which  was  given  at  Marengo 


592  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

on  December  3  and  4,  1925,  was  a  success.  The  first  day 
there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  one  hundred 
and  ninety  women  present.  At  night  President  Deering 
delivered  his  address,  "The  Other  Fellow,"  to  a  record- 
breaking  crowd.  The  count  showed  that  six  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  people  were  present.  Professors  Gannon, 
Aneta  Beadle  and  K.  E.  Beeson  of  Purdue  were  present 
and  lectured  to  the  farmers.  On  Friday  evening  at  six 
o'clock  luncheon  was  served  to  over  three  hundred  people 
at  the  Red  Men's  Hall  under  the  supervision  of  Mrs. 
George  Robinson.  That  night  President  Deering  addressed 
the  audience  again.  Many  were  turned  away  because  there 
were  no  seats  or  standing  room.  The  people  are  to  be 
commended  for  the  interest  shown  in  the  short  course. 

The  many  friends  of  Henry  Newton  Wiseman  will  be 
pleased  to  hear  that  he  was  appointed  assistant  director  of 
the  budget  at  Washington  City.  "Newt"  is  the  son  of 
George  E.  Wiseman  of  Beechwood.  He  served  his  country 
well  during  the  Spanish- American  War.  For  a  while  he 
worked  in  the  postoffice  at  St.  Louis.  In  1907  Wiseman 
was  promoted  to  a  clerkship  at  Washington.  He  was  clerk 
in  the  new  budget  system  for  awhile  until  he  was  made 
assistant  in  January,  1926. 

The  Crawford  County  Bankers'  Federation  was  organ- 
ized at  Marengo  on  August  18,  1925,  when  representatives 
from  the  five  banks  met  with  Claude  Kitterman  of  the  Indi- 
ana Bankers'  Association.  Sheriff  Johnson  of  English  was 
present.  The  committee  working  with  the  sheriff  was  com- 
posed of  L.  Helmbrecht,  E.  L.  Brown,  Elmer  Merilees,  W. 
J.  Hawkins  and  R.  E.  Jackson.  The  association  will  pay 
$1,000  for  dead  bank  bandits  and  $500  for  live  bandits. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  593 

Sheriff  Johnson  appointed  a  number  of  deputies  who  were 
supplied  with  arms  and  placed  under  bond.  Their  identity 
was  concealed.  Posters  were  placed  in  various  parts  of 
the  county  and  the  season  is  open  on  bandits  in  Crawford 
County.  No  license  is  needed.  The  program  began  on 
January  1,  1926. 

On  January  1,  1926,  Horace  Copeland  withdrew  from 
Crawford  County  and  H.  LeGrand  of  Salem  was  elected 
county  agent.  Copeland  had  served  the  people  of  Craw- 
ford County  for  four  years.  He  was  a  hard  worker,  a 
good  organizer  and  a  courteous  gentleman.  On  Christmas 
day  he  and  Ida  Toney,  the  popular  primary  teacher  of 
English,  were  married  at  the  home  of  John  Toney. 

On  July  25,  1923,  occurred  the  marriage  of  James 
Tower's  two  daughters  and  son.  The  weddings  took  place 
at  the  Fairview  farm  which  is  about  one  mile  from  Leaven- 
worth. Juanita  Tower  married  Bert  S.  Leech  of  Chicago ; 
Mary  Tower  married  W.  Russell  Wells,  of  Hanover,  Indi- 
ana, and  Harold  Tower  married  Miss  Arzella  McDonald 
of  Laporte,  Indiana.  Reverend  Edward  Rosier  and  Rev- 
erend E.  A.  Boston  officiated.  The  ring  ceremony  was 
used.  The  marriages  occurred  at  sunrise.  Then  a  wed- 
ding breakfast  was  served.  After  breakfast  the  three 
couples  left  for  the  camp  near  Beck's  Mill  where  they  spent 
their  honeymoon.  Mr.  Tower,  who  is  one  of  the  leading 
farmers  of  the  county,  belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  highly  respected  families  of  the  county.  As  far  as 
the  facts  are  known  this  is  the  first  case  where  three  chil- 
dren of  the  same  family  were  married  at  one  time. 

The  primary  in  1926  was  held  on  May  4th.  The  Dem- 
ocrats had  a  large  number  of  candidates  in  the  field.     For 


594  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

United  States  Senate  the  following  men  were  candidates 
for  the  long  term:  Cullop,  Frederick,  Rauch,  Slack  and 
Stump.  For  the  short  term  Woollen  was  unopposed.  For 
congress  Frank  Gardner  was  unopposed.  For  joint  sen- 
ator, Sam  Benz  was  unopposed.  For  representative  Brew- 
ster was  unopposed.     For  prosecutor,  J.  B.  Pierson  and 

Avery.     For  clerk,  Leonard  Cummins  and  Owen 

Gilmore.  For  treasurer,  W.  0.  Beals  was  unopposed.  For 
recorder,  Nelson  Belcher  was  unopposed.  For  sheriff,  John 
Bolden,  Green  Satterfield  and  Ott  Hanger.  For  county 
assessor,  Henry  Knight,  S.  K.  Breeden  and  Jobe.  For 
surveyor,  Sam  Tucker  was  unopposed.  For  coroner, 
Dooley  and  Snider.  For  commissioner  of  the  first  district, 
Harvey  and  Jacobs. 

For  trustees  the  townships  had  a  number  of  fine  men 
running.  In  Boone  township  P.  N.  Fullenwider  and  Jesse 
Wiseman  were  candidates.  No  one  on  the  Democratic 
ticket  filed. 

Jennings — Democrats,  Alva  Brown  and  Quimby  Shaw. 
Republicans — William    Fesler   and   Joseph    Hiser. 

Johnson — Democrats,  Kendall,  Smith  and  Wright.  Re- 
publicans, Jones  and  Newton. 

Liberty — Democrat,  H.  W.  Key,  Republican,  Alspaugh. 

Ohio — Democrat,  Highfill.  Republicans,  H.  M.  Rain- 
forth  and  J.  A.  Wright. 

Patoka — Democrats,  Gregory  and  Tucker.  Repub- 
licans, George  C.   Smith  and  King. 

Sterling — Democrats,  Bennett  and  Longest.  Repub- 
licans, No  one  filed. 

Union — Democrats,  Mullen  and  Reasar.  Republicans, 
Balding,  Neal  and  Wright. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  595 

Whisky  Run — Democrats,  Batman,  Baylor,  Byrum  and 
Senn.    Republicans,  Boldt  and  Jones. 

The  Senate  race — Long  term,  James  E.  Watson  and 
Claris  Adams.  Short  term,  Graham,  Robinson,  Norrel, 
Iliner  and  Ryan. 

For   Congress — John  Paul  and  Martin. 

The  campaign  was  an  interesting  one.  The  contestants 
made  a  thorough  canvass.  The  voters  on  the  Republican 
ticket  did  not  know  that  Norrell  was  a  colored  gentleman. 
He  received  thirty  votes  in  Crawford  County.  Who  voted 
for  a  negro  in  Crawford? 

In  the  county  the  candidate  having  the  largest  number 
of  votes  was  the  nominee.  The  vote  showed  the  following 
results : 

Senator — Long  term  :  Democrats,  Slack,  304 ;  Stump, 
250 ;  Cullop,  178 ;  Curry,  166 ;  VanNuys,  242 ;  Rouch,  194. 
Republicans,  Watson,  832 ;  Adams,  163. 

Senator — Short  term :  Democrat,  Woollen.  Repub- 
licans, Arthur  Robinson,  632 ;  Graham,  89 ;  Hiner,  49 ; 
Norrell   (Negro),  30;   Ryan,  48. 

Congress — Gardner,  Democrat,  1,325 ;  Paul,  Repub- 
lican, 377;  Martin,  Republican,  407. 

Joint  Senator — Sam  Benz,  Democrat,  1,525 ;  Rowe,  Re- 
publican, 409 ;  Sieg,  Republican,  355. 

Representative — Brewster,  Democrat,  1,025 ;  Fonts, 
Republican,  603. 

Prosecutor — Pierson,  Democrat,  1,325;  Avery,  Demo- 
crat, 411 ;  Allen,  Republican,  283 ;  Deich,  Republican,  569. 

Treasurer — W.  O.  Beals,  Democrat,  1,468;  No  Repub- 
lican candidate. 


596  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Recorder — Belcher,  Democrat,  1,402 ;  Denbo,  Repub- 
lican,   . 

Sheriff — Bolden,  Democrat,  340;  Hanger,  Democrat, 
368;  Satterfield,  Democrat,  1,462;  Goodson,  Republican, 
629. 

County  Assessor — Jobe,  Democrat,  490;  Knight,  Dem- 
ocrat, 952 ;  Breeden,  Democrat,  589 ;  Morris,  Republican, 
679. 

Surveyor — Tucker,  Democrat,  1,192;  No  Republican 
candidate. 

Coroner — Snider,  Democrat,  717;  Dooley,  Democrat, 
720 ; ?  ?  ? 

Commissioner — First  District,  Harvey,  Democrat,  896; 
Jacobs,  Democrat,  639 ;  Peterson,  Republican,  562. 

Commissioner — Second  District,  Reasor,  Democrat, 
979 ;  Lamon,  Republican,  605. 

Township  Trustees  and  Assessors: 

Boone — Trustee :  No  Democratic  candidate ;  P.  N.  Ful- 
lenwider,  Republican,  80;  Jesse  Wiseman,  Republican,  47. 

Boone — Assessor  :  Democratic  candidates,  ?  ?  ? ;  L.  H. 
Brooks,  Republican,  43;  C.  M.  C.  Kemp,  Republican,  54; 
Ivan  Mock,  Republican,  30. 

Jennings — Trustee  :  A.  T.  Brown,  Democrat,  218 ;  G.  Q. 
Shaw,  Democrat,  93 ;  William  Fesler,  Republican,  150 ; 
Joseph  Hiser,  Republican,  35. 

Jennings — Assessor :    Ishmael  Carver,  Democrat, ; 

No  Republican  candidate. 

Johnson — Trustee :  Kendall,  Democrat,  34 ;  Smith, 
Democrat,  77 ;  Wright,  Democrat,  107 ;  Jones,  Republican, 
70;  Newton,  Republican,  40. 


POLITICAL  CAMPAIGNS  597 

Johnson — Assessor:  Wallace  Buford,  Democrat,  102; 
J.  M.  Miller,  Democrat,  95 ;  Isaac  Kellams,  Republican,  52 ; 
John  King",  Democrat,  54. 

Liberty — Trustee :  H.  W.  Key,  Democrat,  150 ; 
Alspaugh,  Republican,  75. 

Liberty — Assessor:  Democratic  candidates  ???;  C.  P. 
Merriweather,  Republican,  58 ;  George  C.  Stewart,  Repub- 
lican, 33. 

Ohio— Trustee :  Highfill,  Democrat;  H.  M.  Rainforth, 
Republican;  J.  A.  Wright,  Republican. 

Ohio — Assessor :  Wm.  Satterfield,  Democrat ;  A.  J. 
Cummings,  Republican. 

Patoka — Trustee :  Gregory,  Democrat,  201 ;  Tucker, 
Democrat,  145 ;  George  Smith,  Republican,  65 ;  King,  Re- 
publican, 54. 

Patoka — Assessor :  Aaron  Crews,  Democrat,  137  ;  Arley 
Flick,  Democrat,  144 ;  Austin  Lytle,  Democrat,  87 ;  Re- 
publican candidates  ?  ?  ? 

Sterling — Trustee :  Curtis  Bennett,  Democrat,  379 ; 
Longest,  Democrat,  167;  Republican  candidates    ??? 

Sterling — Assessor:  Larman  Longest,  Democrat;  R.  E. 
Lee,  Republican. 

Union — Trustee ;  Mullen,  Democrat,  153 ;  Reasar, 
Democrat,  89 ;  Balding,  Republican,  69 ;  Neal,  Republican, 
43;  Wright,  Republican,  41. 

Union — Assessor :  V.  W.  Belcher,  Democrat,  82 ;  Chris 
Felker,  Democrat,  151;  William  Fitch,  Republican,  54; 
James  F.  Powell,  Republican,  84. 

Whisky  Run — Trustee:  W.  Batman,  Democrat,  164; 
Baylor,  Democrat,  63 ;  Byrum,  Democrat,  84 ;  Senn,  Dem- 
ocrat, 53;  Boldt,  Republican,  131;  Jones,  Republican,  59. 


598  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Whisky  Run — Assessor:  Crecelius,  Democrat,  116; 
W.  A.  Key,  203.     Republican  candidates??? 

The  men  listed  above  will  be  the  standardbearers  of 
the  party  for  1926.  The  writer  trusts  that  the  majority 
will  select  the  right  man. 

The  board  of  commissioners  met  in  regular  session 
Monday,  April  4,  and  appointed  the  inspectors  for  the  pri- 
mary.    They  were : 

Jennings— No.  1,  Roy  Melton;  No.  2,  A.  P.  Smith;  No. 
3,  0.  R.  Scott. 

Whisky  Run — No.  1,  Ray  Jones;  No.  2,  Joseph  Kelly. 

Liberty — No.  1,  Dave  Apple;  No.  2,  W.  J.  Hawkins. 

Sterling— No.  1,  J.  F.  Jones;  No.  2,  J.  S.  Melton;  No.  3, 
Cyrus  Mills. 

Patoka — No.  1,  Bryan  Starrett;  No.  2,  Albert  Kaiser. 

Johnson — No.  1,  Hugh  May. 

Union — No.  1,  George  Farmer;  No.  2,  J.  T.  Baggerly. 

Ohio — No.  1,  Frank  Lynch;  No.  2,  Elsie  Brown. 

Boone — J.  E.  Neville. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

POLITICS   IN   CRAWFORD   COUNTY 

A  history  of  the  county  would  not  be  complete  without 
a  chapter  on  politics.  Our  men  and  women  certainly  like 
politics.    It  is  as  dear  to  some  of  them  as  their  religion. 

Party  lines  were  tightly  drawn  in  1840.  The  Demo- 
crats held  their  mass  convention  at  Milltown  when  they 
put  a  ticket  in  the  field. 

During  the  campaign  many  speeches  were  made.  On 
one  occasion  the  Whigs  sent  Van  Buren  a  tub  of  butter 
weighing  about  three  hundred  pounds.  One  can  not  learn 
much  about  this  affair.  Our  county  Whigs  no  doubt  were 
urged  on  by  outside  Whigs.  They  wanted  Van  Buren  to 
be  a  slick  politician.  No  doubt  he  would  be  slick  if  they 
greased  him  with  all  that  dirty,  stinking  butter. 

Before  the  war  men  voted  at  just  a  few  places.  There 
were  no  precincts  then.  The  Australian  ballot  system  was 
not  used.  A  man  could  get  his  ballot  down  in  town  and 
come  up  to  the  polls  and  deposit  it.  Of  course  everyone 
could  see  how  a  man  voted. 

On  one  occasion  the  Democrats  played  a  good  joke  on 
the  Whigs.  It  seemed  that  the  Whigs  had  bought  a  certain 
man's  vote.  The  Democrats  got  his  boy,  who  was  about 
fifteen  years  old,  and  gave  him  a  Democratic  ballot  and 

599 


600  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

told  him  to  stand  by  the  polls  till  his  father  came  up  to 
vote  and  then  ask  to  see  his  father's  ballot.  Some  other 
man  was  detailed  to  engage  the*  man  in  a  conversation 
about  the  merits  of  his  wolf  dog,  so  after  looking  at  the 
ballot  he  thought  he  might  slip  the  Democratic  ballot  and 
let  him  put  it  into  the  box  which  the  old  gentleman  did. 
Later  he  found  out  about  the  joke  and  the  old  man  was 
furious. 

The  campaign  songs  of  1840  were  full  of  spirit.  The 
Whigs  sang,  "Van,  Van,  Van,  you  are  a  done  man."  The 
Whigs  sang  their  songs  with  glee,  but  after  the  death  of 
Harrison  their  joy  died  out. 

The  campaign  of  1844  was  still  warm.  The  Whigs  had 
nominated  Clay,  who  was  the  "mill  boy  of  the  slashes." 
The  Democrats  called  him  "the  old  Whig  coon."  They 
said  that  they  would  "skin  that  old  coon  and  stretch  his 
hide."  The  Whigs,  who  almost  worshiped  Clay,  called 
him  "old  Henry  Clay." 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign  in  1856  the  people  of  the 
county  did  not  know  who  was  elected  for  about  a  week. 
The  Democrats  had  a  big  cannon  called  "Old  Bet."  For 
two  or  three  days  the  Fremont  guns  were  firing.  After 
several  days  one  night  the  people  heard  "Old  Bet"  fire. 
Then  they  knew  that  Buchanan  was  elected.  The  Whigs 
had  ceased  to  run  candidates,  but  a  Republican  party  had 
taken  its  place.  On  that  ticket  Fremont  and  Dayton  ran 
in  1856. 

Back  in  the  good  old  days  men  bought  votes  on  all  sides. 
Prices  ran  all  the  way  from  a  quart  of  liquor  to  sums  of 
money. 


POLITICS  IN  THE  COUNTY  601 

Many  years  after  the  Civil  War  a  noted  Democrat  had 
been  nominated  for  treasurer.  This  candidate,  who  lived 
up  at  Marengo,  had  incurred  the  ill  will  of  one  of  the  lead- 
ing Democrats  at  English.  He  told  a  gentleman  of  Ma- 
rengo about  the  matter  and  asked  his  advice.  The  can- 
didate knew  that  he  would  be  beaten  if  the  politician  did 
not  keep  the  Democrats  in  line  for  him.  So  the  gentleman 
told  the  candidate  to  give  him  twenty  dollars  and  he  would 
go  over  to  English  and  "fix"  the  politician.  Getting  the 
twenty  dollars,  he  went  to  English.  As  fortune  would 
have  it,  he  went  into  the  barber  shop  and  sat  down.  He  was 
not  in  the  chair  long  till  in  came  the  noted  politician. 
While  he  was  being  shaved  the  conversation  drifted  to 
politics  and  the  recent  primary.  Listening  to  the  men 
discuss  the  relative  merits  of  the  candidates  for  awhile, 
the  man  with  the  twenty  dollars  arose,  knocked  the  ashes 
out  of  his  pipe  and  said:  "Boys,  I  never  voted  for  a 
Republican  in  my  life  and  I  do  not  intend  to  do  so,  but 
I  am  sure  of  one  thing."  At  that  every  one  became 
quiet  and  Mr.  G.  watched  carefully  the  gentleman  from 
Marengo.  Then  he  began  again:  "I  do  not  want  one  of 
you  good  Democrats  to  go  out  and  tell  what  I  say,  but  I  am 
sure  Mr.  W.  will  be  beaten  this  fall."  At  that  Mr.  G. 
turned  in  the  chair  and  looked  directly  at  the  man  with  the 
twenty  dollars.  The  man  began  again :  "I  would  not  be 
afraid  to  bet  any  man  twenty  dollars  that  Mr.  W.  will  be 
defeated."  At  that  the  man  from  English  arose  and  asked 
Mr.  N.  if  he  meant  that  and  on  being  informed  that  he  did 
Mr.  G.  said  that  he  would  just  take  that  bet.  The  wager 
was  made.  Mr.  G.  of  English  went  out  and  worked  like  a 
Turk  to  win  the  bet.     Mr.  W.   carried  English  and  was 


602  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

elected.  Mr.  G.  won  the  twenty  dollars,  but  he  never  knew 
that  it  was  a  trick  bet  to  get  him  to  work  for  Mr.  W. 

Probably  one  of  the  shrewdest  politicians  the  county 
had  in  the  'nineties  was  Walter  Q.  Ballard.  When  John 
Deich  was  elected  trustee  of  Patoka  township  in  1894  the 
Democrats  prosecuted  him  for  buying  votes.  When  the 
case  came  up  Jerry  Crews,  who  was  a  leading  Democratic 
politician  of  Taswell,  asked  him  to  let  them  have  a  few 
Democrats  on  the  jury.  Ballard  agreed  to  this,  but  in 
some  way  objection  was  made  to  each  Democrat  till  only  a 
few  of  the  jury  were  Democrats.  Deich  was  acquitted  by 
the  jury. 

The  campaign  of  1896  was  hotly  contested.  Men  be- 
came mad  at  their  best  neighbors.  The  Democrats  closed 
their  campaign  with  a  big  speaking  at  Leavenworth  in  the 
old  court  house.  E.  E.  Richardson,  who  had  been  a  Re- 
publican all  his  life  had  turned  Democrat.  He  was  billed 
to  speak  at  Leavenworth  that  night.  The  Republicans 
fought  every  inch  of  the  way.  They  had  a  big  speaking, 
too,  in  the  old  store  building  on  the  corner  of  Nelson  street 
at  the  river.  The  house  is  used  for  a  show  room  now.  Bob 
Tracewell  was  to  speak.  The  Republicans  got  their  cannon 
out  and  were  firing  it  down  on  the  river  bank.  Henry 
Green  was  loading  it  so  fast  that  it  became  so  warm  the 
powder  caught  afire  as  he  was  loading  it.  Henry  was  badly 
burned  by  the  explosion.  Up  at  the  court  house  the  Dem- 
ocrats were  having  a  warm  time.  Several  fights  occurred  at 
Chester  Elliott's  saloon  on  Nelson  Street.  Fortunately  no 
one  was  hurt  except  Levi  Wiser,  whom  some  one  knocked 
down  the  stairs  at  the  court  house,  and  Henry  Green,  who 
was  severely  burned. 


POLITICS  IN  THE  COUNTY  603 

A  noted  Democratic  song  during  the  campaign  of  1888 
was  this; 

Here    comes    China    Harrison ; 

The  least  man  of  all. 
Backed  up  by  Banker  Morton, 

Together  they  will  fall. 

A  Republican  song  of  1896  was: 

Long  they  waited   on  the   train 

For  the  hero  of  the  Platte, 
With  his  silver  cross  and  crown  of  cactus  on. 

And  they  blew  him  up  with  air 
On  the  day  they  paid  his  fare, 

And  they  hooked  the  blower  to  his  windy  horn. 

Hip  !   Hip  !   Hip  !   Hurrah  for   Hobart ! 

Swing  your  hat  for  McKinley ;  swing  it  high. 
These  men  will  always  do;  they  are  just  the 
truest  blue 

If  you  vote  for  them  you  will  never  sigh. 

Soon  again  we'll  hear  the  sound 

Of  the  workmen  all  around, 
Of  the  factory  and  the  very  busy  loom. 

On  our  banners  we  shall  read 
That  protection  is  our  need; 

And  we  '11  strike  no  bonds  in  Bill  McKinley 's 
boom. 

Look!  Look  Look!  we  have  them  running, 

And  we  have  them  all  split  up. 
And  the  best  we  can  do 

Is  to  stand  up  to  the  brave  and  true, 
And  we'll  whip  them  like  the  Dutchman 
whipped  the  pup. 


604  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  above  verses  were  sung  to  the  tune  of  "Tramp, 
Tramp,  the  Boys  are  Marching.1' 

The  Democrats  in  1912  in  many  parts  used  the  famous 
Missouri  dog  song.  It  never  became  popular  with  the 
people.  The  leading  verses,  which  were  written  as  nearly 
like  the  original  as  possible,  were  as  follows : 

Once  me,  and  Lem  Briggs,  and  old  Bill  Brown 

We  took  a  load  of  cawn  to  town. 
And  Lem's  old  dog,  the  onery  old  cuss, 

He  would  naturally  follow  us. 

As  we  driv  past  Sam  Johnson's  store 
A  passel  of  j^aps  came  out  of  the  door. 

And  Jim,  he  stopped  to  smell  a  box, 

When  they  shied  at  him  a  bunch  of  rocks. 

They  tied  a  tin  can  to  his  tail 

And  run  him  down  by  the  county  jail. 

That  just  naturally  made  me  sore, 

And  Lem,  he  cussed  and  Bill,  he  swore. 

Me,  and  Lem  Briggs,  and  old  Bill  Brown, 
We  lost  no  time  in  jumping  down. 

We  licked  those  young  bucks  all  around 
For  kicking  that  old  dog  about  the  town. 

Chorus : 

Every  time  I  come  to  town 

The  boys  keep  kicking  my  dog  around. 
It  makes  no  difference  if  he  is  a  hound, 
They  got  to  quit  kicking  that  dog  around. 


POLITICS  IN  THE  COUNTY  G05 

SUPPLEMENT 

County  Auditors : 

James   Lemonds    1852-1860 

Dunbar   Patrick    (R.)    1860-1868 

Malachi  Monk   1868-1876 

Alexander  Sipes   (D.)    1876-1883 

John  E.  McFall  (appointed  Aug.  to  Nov.  in  1884) 

W.  L.  Temple    1884-1888 

James  Bobbitt   (R.)    1888-1892 

James  D.  Fleming   (D.)    1892-1900 

Sam  McFall   (D.)    1898-1906 

J.  Evan  Jones  (D.)    1908-1912 

J.  B.  Enlow   (R.)    1912-1916 

Ara  Tadlock   (D.)    1916-1920 

A.  N.  Bobbitt  (R.)    1920-1924 

John   Spears    (D.)    1924-1928 

County   Treasurers : 

Joseph  A.  Thornton   1848-1855 

W.  H.  Whitten   1855-1857 

Marcus    Clark    1857-1861 

Thomas  Yance     1861-1865 

Walter  Seacat    1865-1867 

W.  L.  Temple    1867-1871 

E.  P.  Roberson   (D.)    1871-1875 

Sam  G.  Highfill   (D.)    1875-1879 

C.  T.  Crecelius   (D.)    1879-1883 

John  Pankey   (D.)    1883-1887 

Arthur  Stewart  (R.)    1887-1891 


606  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Joab   Stroud    (D.) 1891- 

(Died  in  office  and  Pierce  Walts  was  appointed) 

F.  P.  Walts  (D.)    1891-1897 

Pete  Brown   (D.)    1897-1901 

D.  F.  Davis  (D.)    1901-1903 

Joseph  Bell   (R.) 1903-1905 

T.  B.  Sonner  (D.)    1905-1909 

A.  D.  Huff    (D.)    1909-1913 

A.  H.  Flanigan  (D.)    1913-1917 

James  Smith    (R.)    1917-1921 

Benton  Pierson   (D.)    1921-1925 

W.  O.  Beals  (D.)    1925-1927 

County   Recorders : 
William   Samuels    1818-1825 

E.  E.  Morgan   1825-1846 

Samuel  Sands 1846-1848 

C.  W.  Kendall    1848-1855 

I.  A.  B.  Crecelius  1855-1859 

Joseph  E.  Allen   1859-1863 

James  Miller    1863-1866 

James  Mansfield   (D.)    1866-1870 

C.  F.  Crecelius   (D.)    1870-1878 

Elijah  J.  Stroud  (D.)    1878-1886 

Isaac  Johnson 1886-1894 

J.  M.  Brown   (D.)    1894-1903 

G.  W.  Cuzzort  (D.)    1903-1911 

Ina  Dooley  (D.)    1911-1915 

W.  A.  Brooks   (R.)    1915-1919 

Lloyd  Froman    (D.)    1919-1923 

Nelson  Belcher   (D.)    1923-1927 


POLITICS  IN  THE  COUNTY  607 

County  Sheriffs: 

R.  S.  Kay  1854-1856 

John    Stroud    1856-1858 

W.  W.  Cummins    (D.)    1858-1862 

Martin  II.  Tucker   (D.)    1862-1866 

James  C.  Clark  (D.)    1866-1870 

Joseph  Landiss  (R.)    1870-1872 

John  B.  Pankey  (D.)    1872-1876 

John  N.  Benham    1876-1880 

James  H.  Turner   (D.)    1880-1884 

Thomas  B.  Cummins   1886-1892 

B.  B.  Brown   (D.)    1888-1892 

James  Hughes  (D.)    1892-1894 

W.  Q.  Ballard  (R.)    1894-1898 

John  Gilliland    (D.)    1898-1902 

J.  R.  Crews   (D)    1902-1906 

James  Hanger  (D.)    1906-1910 

Cad  Funk  (R.)    1910-1914 

Jesse  Ewing  (D.)    1914-1916 

Dale   Hammond    (R.)    1916-1918 

Steve  Cunningham  (D.)    1918-1922 

Owen  Johnson  (D.)    1922-1926 

County  Superintendents : 

John    Springston    1873-1875 

John  Batman  (Appointed  by  the  County  Com- 
missioners, but  law  was  changed  so  that  the 
trustees  could  be  elected). 

John   Springston     1875-1880 

Jerry  Hall  (Appointed  and  then  elected) 1880-1883 

E.  J.  Bye   1883-1885 


608  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

James    Bobbitt 1885-1887 

W.   A.   Pierson    1887-1889 

John  Zimmerman   (D.)    1891-1893 

James  R.  Duffin    1893-1897 

Charles  A.  Robertson    1897-1903 

S.  A.  Beals  (D.)    1903-1917 

H.  W.  Toney  (R.)    1917-1921 

H.  H.  Pleasant   (R.)    1921-1924 

S.  C.  Adams  (D.)    1924-1925 

John   Murray    ( (D.)    1925-1929 

County  Surveyors :    . 

Samuel  G.  Highfill   1853-1860 

John   MeCollister    1860-1862 

Michael    Dillman    1862-1870 

Samuel  G.  Highfill   1870-1876 

A.  M.  Duffin 1876-1878 

Dan   Paschal    1878-1890 

Sherman  Smith   1890- 

( Resigned  and  Paschal  was  appointed). 

Dan   Paschal    1890-1894 

J.  M.  Johnson   1894-1896 

D.  J.  Paschal  1896-1900 

Thomas  Cunningham   1900-1922 

Sam  Tucker  1922-1926 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

WHO'S   WHO   FROM   CRAWFORD   COUNTY 

Shelby  C.  Adams,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  0.  A.  Adams, 
of  Jennings  township,  is  a  graduate  of  the  Indiana  State 
Normal.  He  has  a  B.  A.  degree  from  Indiana  University 
and  an  M.  A.  degree  from  Columbia  University.  At  pres- 
ent he  is  superintendent  of  the  Marengo  city  schools. 

"Doc"  Allen,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen,  of  Fredonia, 
is  one  of  Ohio  township's  noble  sons.  He  is  one  of  the 
leading  dentists  in  the  West. 

Clyde  Bird,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reed  Bird,  of  Liberty 
was  born  in  Johnson  township.  After  graduating  from 
the  Marengo  High  School  he  entered  the  Indiana  State 
Normal  School,  in  which  he  received  his  elementary  train- 
ing. After  teaching  in  the  schools  of  Crawford  County 
for  some  time  he  went  to  Florida  where  he  was  employed 
to  teach  in  one  of  the  best  high  schools  of  the  state. 

Arthur  Garfield  Bobbitt  was  born  in  Crawford  County. 
He  is  the  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Bobbitt.  Young  Bob- 
bitt entered  Indiana  University  where  he  became  a  brilliant 
student  of  history.     His  thesis  on  the  Alabama  Claims  is 

609 


610  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

one  of  the  best  ever  written.  Mr.  Bobbitt  was  employed  to 
teach  in  the  Oak  Park  High  School  of  Chicago  where  he 
has  held  his  position  for  many  years.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Republican  party. 

Archie  N.  Bobbitt,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  I.  B.  Bobbitt, 
was  born  in  Jackson  township.  After  graduating  from 
High  School  he  became  a  teacher.  In  1918  he  was  nom- 
inated for  clerk  on  the  Republican  ticket,  but  later  enlisted 
in  the  Navy  during  the  World  War.  Returning  from  the 
war  he  was  nominated  by  the  Republicans  for  county 
auditor.  After  a  thorough  campaign  he  was  elected  by  a 
majority  of  twenty-three  votes.  In  1922  he  was  elected 
county  chairman  and  in  January,  1923,  when  Thomas  J. 
Jackson  became  postmaster  of  New  Albany,  he  was  elected 
district  chairman  of  the  Republican  party.  Those  men 
voting  were  all  the  county  chairmen  of  the  district.  Later, 
in  1924,  he  was  re-elected  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

Mr.  Bobbitt  married  Frances  Adams,  who  was  a  very 
talented  lady  in  music  and  art. 

At  present  Mr.  Bobbitt  is  a  gasoline  collector  for  the 
state  of  Indiana  and  has  his  headquarters  in  the  state 
auditor's  office  in  Indianapolis. 

Franklin  Bobbitt,  son  of  James  Bobbitt  and  wife,  was 
born  in  Crawford  County  about  1876.  After  completing 
the  elementary  course  he  entered  college  where  he  became 
a  great  student  of  education.  To-day  he  is  probably  the 
most  outstanding  figure  in  all  education.  He  confined  his 
work  chiefly  to  the  Curriculum,  which  was  published  by 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company  in  1918.     Since  1908  he  has 


WHO'S  WHO  611 

been  associated  with  Professor  Judd  in  the  School  of  Edu- 
cation of  Chicago  University. 


Miss  Orphia  Brown,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James 
Brown,  was  born  in  Sterling  township.  She  became  a 
teacher.  She  was  employed  at  Marengo  two  years.  She 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Indiana  State  Normal  School.  Later 
she  entered  Indiana  University  where  she  completed  the 
course  for  the  B.  A.  degree  in  June,  1925.  Miss  Brown  is 
a  devoted  member  of  the  Christian  church  of  English.  In 
the  summer  of  1925  she  was  employed  to  teach  in  the  city 
schools  of  Alfordsville.  Miss  Brown  is  full  of  fun,  a  good 
girl,  and  a  hard  worker  in  any  school  where  she  may  be 
employed.  Her  noted  remarks  are:  "There  is  a  reason 
and  a  "howling  success." 


>  i 


Jesse  A.  Breeden  was  born  in  Crawford  County.  He 
became  a  teacher.  Assisted  Emmett  Taylor  and  Professor 
Johnson  in  the  normal  at  Marengo.  Entered  the  ministry 
about  1897  and  had  charge  of  the  Methodist  church  at 
Leavenworth  and  Tower  for  several  years.  He  married  a 
lady  by  the  name  of  Louden.  After  leaving  the  Leaven- 
worth church  he  has  been  assigned  to  various  other 
churches  by  the  Methodist  Conference.  At  date  of  writing 
he  has  been  stationed  at  Worthington,  Indiana.  He  is  a 
man  of  high  ideals,  a  good  citizen  and  a  loyal  worker  for 
the  church  of  the  living  God. 

Frank  Crecelius,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  F.  Crecelius, 
was  born  in  Leavenworth.  Later  he  moved  to  Kentucky 
where  he  arose  to  distinction  and  was  elected  secretary  of 


612  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

state  of  Kentucky.     At  present  he  is  one  of  the  leading 
dentists  of  Kentucky. 

Doctor  Lancy  Conrad,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  Con- 
rad of  Tower,  is  a  native  of  Jennings  township.  He  at- 
tended common  school  at  Archibald.  He  entered  veter- 
inary college  at  Terre  Haute  in  1916  and  studied  several 
terms.  Then  he  entered  the  college  at  Indianapolis  where 
he  graduated.  He  was  the  only  licensed  veterinary  in 
Crawford  County.  At  present  he  is  located  at  Marengo 
where  he  has  a  large  practice. 

John  W.  Collins,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Collins, 
of  Tower,  is  a  native  of  Jennings  township.  For  many 
years  he  has  been  one  of  the  leading  pastors  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church.  He  has  been  located  in  Indiana 
for  several  years. 

Girard  Chambers  of  Marengo  is  an  engineer  of  note. 
He  platted  out  the  ground  on  which  the  Jamestown  Expo- 
sition was  built,  After  leaving  Marengo  he  was  elected 
county  surveyor  of  Hampton  Roads  County,  Virginia. 
This  occurred  about  1907. 

Belvia  Cuzzort,  who  was  born  in  Sterling  township, 
was  a  graduate  from  the  common  schools  in  1901.  That 
year  she  won  the  medal  in  a  declamatory  contest  held  at 
Marengo.  She  entered  the  State  Normal  School  about 
1904  where  she  graduated  in  1910  with  distinction.  After 
teaching  in  the  public  schools  for  several  years  she  went 
to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  she  has  an  excellent  position. 
Miss  Cuzzort  is  a  lady  of  high  ideals  and  ambitions. 


WHO'S  WHO  613 

Court  Coleman  was  born  near  the  Dillman  schoolhouse 
in  Jennings  township.  He  was  engaged  to  teach  at  Mag- 
nolia in  1895.  After  teaching  several  years  in  the  schools 
of  Crawford  County  he  moved  to  Texas  where  he  engaged 
in  business  in  which  he  became  successful.  He  is  a  younger 
brother  of  Walter  Coleman  of  Tower. 

Leona  P.  Donaldson  was  born  in  Patoka  township.  She 
taught  school  several  years  in  Crawford  County.  She  at- 
tended school  at  Terre  Haute  several  years.  At  present 
she  is  located  at  Petersburg,  Indiana. 

Charles  Deich  was  a  native  of  Patoka  township.  He 
became  a  teacher.  In  1902-3  he  taught  school  in  Missouri. 
In  1904  he  was  granted  a  sixty  months'  license  in  Indi- 
ana. He  married  Miss  Bird  of  English.  He  received  a 
life  license  from  the  state  of  Indiana.  After  teaching  sev- 
eral years  he  became  dean  of  Huntington  College,  later 
president  of  Hedden  College,  Professor  of  Education  in 
the  Methodist  College  at  Indianolo,  Iowa.  From  there  he 
went  to  the  Pacific  coast  where  he  now  holds  a  position  in 
one  of  the  best  colleges  of  our  country.  Deich  is  a  brilliant 
student,  a  loyal  friend,  and  a  jolly  good  fellow. 

Aaron  Deich  was  a  native  of  Patoka  township.  After 
graduating  from  the  common  schools  he  became  a  teacher. 
He  studied  in  the  Central  Normal  College  several  years 
where  he  was  granted  a  B.  A.  degree.  Later  he  entered 
Indiana  University  and  received  his  B.  A.  degree.  For 
several  years  he  was  superintendent  of  the  city  schools  of 
Ossian.  The  state  of  Indiana  granted  Mr.  Deich  a  life 
license  to  teach  in  Indiana. 


614  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

The  last  few  years  Mr.  Deich  has  been  one  of  the  lead- 
ing men  in  the  Lafayette  Life  Insurance  Company.  He  is 
widely  known  in  insurance  circles.  At  date  of  writing  he 
lived  in  a  beautiful  home  in  the  city  of  Danville. 

James  R.  Duffin  was  born  near  West  Fork.  After 
graduating  from  the  common  schools  he  entered  Central 
Normal  College  where  he  became  a  brilliant  student.  In 
the  caucus  of  township  trustees,  held  at  Grantsburg  in 
1891,  he  received  several  votes  for  county  superintendent, 
but  was  defeated.  In  1893  he  was  elected  county  superin- 
tendent of  schools.  He  held  this  office  till  1897  when 
Charles  A.  Robertson  defeated  him. 

On  retiring  from  office  he  went  to  New  Albany  and 
Louisville  where  he  engaged  in  business.  Being  an  ener- 
getic man  he  soon  made  a  success.  He  lived  there  at  date 
of  writing. 

Victor  B.  Everdon,  son  of  William  and  Alice  Everdon, 
was  a  native  of  Jennings  township.  After  graduating 
from  the  common  schools  he  entered  the  Leavenworth  High 
School  where  he  graduated  in  1911.  He  entered  the  Indi- 
diana  State  Normal  from  which  he  graduated.  The  Leaven- 
worth School  Board  engaged  him  as  superintendent  of  the 
city  schools  where  he  was  employed  for  several  years.  In 
1924  he  was  employed  to  teach  at  Clifford,  where  he  was 
supervisor  of  three  schools. 

Elbert  Ewing,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jesse  Ewing,  was 
born  in  Perry  County.  He  moved  to  Crawford  County  in 
the  spring  of  1904.     He  became  a  teacher.     He  graduated 


WHO'S  WHO  615 

from  the  Leavenworth  High  School  in  1910.  He  entered 
the  State  Normal  School  in  1910,  from  which  he  graduated. 
When  the  United  States  entered  the  World  War  in 
1917  he  volunteered.  After  spending  several  weeks  in  the 
training  camps  he  crossed  the  seas  and  was  on  the  firing 
line  for  a  long  time.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned 
to  the  United  States  and  engaged  in  teaching.  At  date  of 
writing  he  is  a  teacher  in  the  city  schools  at  Markle. 

V.  Ed.  Funk  was  born  in  Milltown.  After  graduation 
from  the  Milltown  High  School  he  entered  Central  Normal 
College  where  he  studied  law.  He  taught  school  for  ten 
years  in  Milltown.  He  was  superintendent  of  the  Milltown 
High  School  when  it  received  its  commission  in  1915.  Since 
1922  he  has  been  assistant  reporter  of  the  State  Supreme 
Court. 

John  B.  Funk,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mack  Funk,  of 
Milltown,  was  cashier  of  the  Milltown  Bank.  He  married 
Miss  Ola  Bird  of  Marengo.  He  is  now  head  of  the  leading 
bank  at  Central  City,  Kentucky. 

J.  Frank  Jenner  was  educated  at  Leavenworth.  He  is 
now  one  of  the  leading  Methodist  Episcopal  ministers  of 
the  state.    At  date  of  writing  he  is  located  at  Petersburg. 

Torrence  Fields,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dan  Fields,  was 
born  near  Eckerty.  After  studying  several  terms  in  Dan- 
ville he  entered  Indiana  University  where  he  received  his 
B.  A.  degree  in  1925.  Fields  became  interested  in  insur- 
ance work.    He  has  been  engaged  for  some  time  in  writing 


616  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

life  insurance  for  the  Lafayette  Life  Insurance  Company. 
One  may  predict  for  Mr.  Fields  a  bright  future. 

Charles  Gilliland,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Gilli- 
land,  was  born  near  Beechwood,  Indiana.  After  attending 
school  at  Jerico  for  several  years  he  graduated  from  the 
common  school.  After  studying  at  Danville  several  terms 
he  became  a  teacher  in  Crawford  County.  Later  he  moved 
to  St.  Louis  and  became  a  dentist.  Being  energetic  he 
built  up  a  large  patronage.  He  is  to-day  one  of  the  lead- 
ing dentists  of  that  city. 

Jessie  L.  Hanger,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  S.  Han- 
ger, was  born  near  Marengo  in  Liberty  township.  After 
graduating  from  the  Marengo  High  School  in  1911  she  en- 
tered the  teaching  vocation.  In  1916  the  Indiana  Central 
College  conferred  on  her  the  B.  A.  degree.  Since  graduat- 
ing from  Indiana  Central  in  1916  she  has  done  post-grad- 
uate work  in  Chicago  and  Harvard  Universities.  In  1925 
she  returned  to  accept  the  English  Department  of  Indiana 
Central  College. 

Doctor  0.  E.  Hawn,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  E.  Hawn,  of 
Leavenworth,  was  born  in  Leavenworth  where  he  received 
his  early  schooling.  Later  he  studied  dentistry.  On  re- 
turning from  dental  college  he  began  practicing  in  Leaven- 
worth. After  several  years'  work  in  Leavenworth  he  moved 
to  Indianapolis  where  he  has  a  large  practice.  Doctor 
Hawn  married  Miss  Grace  Allen,  who  was  one  of  the  pop- 
ular girls  of  Leavenworth.  She  was  a  daughter  of  W.  B. 
Allen.  Mr.  Allen  is  a  strong  supporter  of  the  Republican 
party. 


WHO'S  WHO  617 

Arthur  B.  Harris  is  a  Crawford  County  boy.  He 
worked  in  the  Southern  Railroad  office  at  Marengo  for 
some  time.  He  was  president  of  the  Marengo  School  Board 
for  awhile.  He  became  agent  for  the  Aetna  Insurance 
Company  where  he  is  now  one  of  the  most  important  agents 
in  the  state.  Not  many  in  the  United  States  have  a  better 
record  than  A.  B.  Harris.  At  present  he  lives  in  Indian- 
apolis and  has  a  beautiful  office  in  the  Terminal  Building. 

John  Hanger,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  Hanger,  was 
born  in  the  little  town  of  Alton.  After  graduating  from 
the  Alton  schools  he  studied  for  the  ministry.  The  Meth- 
odist Conference  gave  him  a  church.  After  serving  in 
many  fields  with  honor  to  the  church  and  credit  to  himself 
he  located  in  Indianapolis.  From  there  he  travels  far  and 
wide  doing  evangelistic  work. 

Temple  H.  Hollcroft,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Holl- 
croft, was  born  in  Alton  where  he  received  his  early  train- 
ing. After  completing  his  high  school  course  he  entered 
college  where  he  became  a  great  student  of  mathematics. 
At  present  Professor  Hollcroft  has  been  teaching  mathe- 
matics in  one  of  the  best  colleges  in  New  York.  Professor 
Hollcroft  is  related  to  Captain  Hollcroft  who  fought  so 
gallantly  in  the  Civil  War.  While  attending  Hanover  Col- 
lege he  made  the  highest  grades  ever  given  any  student  by 
the  college. 

L.  A.  Helmbrecht  was  born  near  Taswell  in  Patoka 
township.  After  teaching  school  a  year  or  two  he  was 
engaged  to  travel  for  the  Yeast  Foam  Company.     Later 


618  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

he  became  interested  in  banking.  He  is  now  employed  as 
cashier  of  the  Crawford  County  State  Bank  at  English. 
Mr.  Helmbrecht  is  a  good  business  man  whose  faithful 
service  has  added  much  to  the  success  of  the  bank. 

Lewis  Gresham  Jones  was  born  near  English.  When 
he  was  a  small  boy  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  T.  Beasley  took  him 
to  raise.  He  studied  in  the  English  schools  for  some  time. 
Making  license  he  was  engaged  to  teach.  He  married  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Abraham  Froman's  daughter,  but  the  marriage 
was  not  a  fortunate  one.  He  was  defeated  for  county 
superintendent  on  one  occasion  by  one  vote.  Later  he 
moved  to  Kansas  and  Oklahoma  where  he  is  making  good. 
In  politics  Lou  was  a  great  worker  for  the  Democrats. 

William  H.  Kendall,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  M.  Ken- 
dall, was  born  in  Leavenworth  where  he  received  his  ele- 
mentary and  High  School  education.  He  entered  the  sem- 
inary where  he  studied  for  the  ministry.  He  was  given  a 
charge  in  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Illinois.  Later  he 
located  in  St.  Louis  where  he  was  a  pastor  for  several 
years.  In  1924  he  received  a  call  to  come  to  the  Memorial 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Indianapolis  where  he  is  located 
at  present.  Aunt  Rebecca  Kendall  of  Leavenworth,  prob- 
ably one  of  the  earlier  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  was  his  grandmother. 

Franklin  Columbus  Landrus,  son  of  William  H.  and 
Alice  Landrus,  was  born  in  Jennings  township.  After 
graduating  from  the  common  schools  he  studied  for  some 
time   in  the   Leavenworth   High   School.      After   teaching 


WHO'S  WHO  619 

several  district  schools  he  entered  the  Indiana  State  Nor- 
mal from  which  he  graduated.  He  was  employed  to  teach 
in  the  Westland  High  School,  in  Hancock  County,  and 
later  entered  business  there.  Mr.  Landrns  has  been  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  boys  of  onr  county. 

Elmer  McCullum,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dan  McCullum, 
is  a  native  of  Leavenworth.  After  graduating  from  the 
Leavenworth  High  School  he  taught  school  several  years 
in  Jennings  township.  Then  he  was  employed  to  teach  in 
Leavenworth.  From  there  he  went  to  English  as  super- 
intendent of  the  city  schools.  Then  he  was  employed  as 
principal  of  the  Jeffersonville  schools  where  he  later  be- 
came superintendent.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the  State  Nor- 
mal and  has  done  much  work  in  Indiana  University.  Mr. 
McCullum  is  a  gifted  speaker. 

Charles  Melton,  who  is  a  native  of  English,  is  a  son 
of  Joel  Melton.  He  is  a  graduate  of  Indiana  State  Normal. 
He  taught  school  in  Tippecanoe  County  one  year.  Then 
he  was  engaged  to  teach  in  various  high  schools  of  Indiana 
and  Illinois.  Mr.  Melton  has  the  quality  which  wins 
friends  everywhere  he  goes. 

Monroe  Melton  is  the  son  of  Joel  Melton  of  English. 
He  is  a  graduate  of  the  Indiana  State  Normal.  He  was 
employed  as  superintendent  of  the  English  school  for  sev- 
eral years.  He  traveled  for  the  Macmillan  Company  for 
some  time  and  returned  to  the  teaching  vocation.  At  pres- 
ent he  is  superintendent  of  one  of  the  best  high  schools  in 
Illinois. 


620  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Otto  Moery  was  born  near  Wickliffe,  Indiana,  and 
taught  school  for  several  years  in  Patoka  township.  While 
teaching  at  Jasper  he  met  Miss  Green  whom  he  married. 
He  is  a  graduate  of  the  Indiana  State  Normal.  Mr.  Moery 
entered  the  weather  bureau  at  Washington  and  was  sta- 
tioned at  Terre  Haute.  He  has  won  many  promotions  until 
to-day  he  is  one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  department. 

Albert  Mock  is  a  native  of  Patoka  township.  He  grad- 
uated from  the  common  schools  and  taught  several  schools 
in  Patoka  township.  He  entered  Indiana  State  Normal 
from  which  he  graduated.  While  teaching  at  Plainville  he 
met  Miss  Killein,  whom  he  later  married.  Being  tired 
of  teaching  he  entered  the  weather  bureau  at  Wash- 
ington. Later  he  returned  to  the  teaching  profession 
and  became  superintendent  of  the  city  schools  at  Mulberry. 
After  teaching  at  Mulberry  several  years  he  accepted  a 
position  to  teach  in  Butler  College.  Mr.  Mock  has  his 
A.  B.  and  A.  M.  degrees  from  Indiana  University. 

Frank  Mock,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  Mock,  was 
born  in  Leavenworth.  He  graduated  from  the  Leaven- 
worth High  School  and  studied  dentistry.  After  complet- 
ing his  course  of  study  he  located  at  Marengo.  He  married 
Marie  Shrewsbury,  daughter  of  Mr.  Shrewsbury,  cashier  of 
the  Leavenworth  Bank.  After  living  in  Marengo  a  few 
years  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mock  located  in  Louisville  where  he 
has  built  up  a  great  practice.  He  is  a  hard  worker,  a  faith- 
ful friend,  and  a  good  citizen  of  his  country. 

L.    C.    Murr,   a   native   of    Crawford    County,    leading 


WHO'S  WHO  621 

Methodist  minister  of  Indianapolis.     He  is  now  chaplain 
of  the  Reformatory  at  Pendleton. 

J.  E.  Murr,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jonathan  Murr,  is  an- 
other Crawford  County  boy  who  has  won  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  all  good  people.  At  present  he  is  district 
superintendent  of  the  New  Albany  Methodist  church. 

Ivan  Noblitt,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Columbus  Noblitt, 
grew  up  near  Taswell.  He  graduated  from  the  Indiana 
State  Normal  School  and  has  been  employed  as  a  teacher 
in  the  West  Terre  Haute  city  schools  for  several  years. 

William  B.  Pleasant  and  Walter  A.  Pleasant  are  sons 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Pleasant.  After  teaching  school  a 
few  years  their  father  sold  his  farm  in  Union  township  and 
located  in  Ottawa,  Kansas.  Here  the  boys  entered  the 
practice  of  law.  W.  B.  Pleasant  married  a  Miss  Proctor 
of  Milltown.  Both  have  been  elected  state  attorney  and 
representative  of  their  county.  In  the  practice  of  law 
they  have  made  good. 

Tower  Parkhill,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  E.  Parkhill,  is  a 
native  of  Jennings  township.  He  graduated  from  Leaven- 
worth High  School  and  attended  Purdue  University.  He 
served  in  the  United  States  Army  during  the  World  War, 
and  after  being  discharged  was  engaged  to  teach  in  the 
schools  of  Quincy,  Illinois. 

John  Paris,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Scott  Paris,  was  born 
in   Leavenworth.      He   graduated   from    the    Leavenworth 


622  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

High  School.  He  studied  law  in  New  Albany  and  became 
an  active  politician.  He  was  elected  judge  of  Floyd  County 
on  the  Democratic  ticket.  Paris  is  one  of  the  most  pop- 
ular judges  of  southern  Indiana. 

David  A.  Rothrock  is  a  native  of  Crawford  County. 
He  has  been  one  of  the  leading  teachers  of  mathematics  in 
Indiana  for  many  years.  He  has  his  Doctor's  degree  from 
one  of  the  best  schools.  At  present  he  is  dean  of  Indiana 
University.  He  is  a  gentleman  who  is  well  liked  by  his 
pupils,  a  good  citizen,  and  a  leading  legislator  of  Indiana. 

M.  W.  Rothrock,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Andrew  Rothrock, 
was  born  at  Wyandotte,  Indiana.  After  teaching  school 
several  years  he  entered  medical  college  at  Louisville 
where  he  completed  a  course.  At  present  he  is  one  of  the 
leading  doctors  of  Evansville. 

Logan  Riddle  is  another  Crawford  County  boy  who 
made  good.  He  married  a  Miss  Lyons  of  Schooner  Point 
where  he  lived  on  a  large  farm  for  some  time.  At  present 
he  is  located  near  New  Albany. 

Floyd  Roach  was  one  of  the  popular  teachers  of  Craw- 
ford County  for  several  years.  He  married  a  sister  of 
Mrs.  Logan  Riddle.     He  is  located  near  New  Albany. 

Jesse  Riddle,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  W.  Riddle,  was 
born  in  Ohio  township.  For  many  years  he  was  one  of  the 
leading  teachers  of  the  county.  At  present  he  is  located  in 
St.  Louis,  Missouri. 


WHO'S  WHO  623 

Charles  T.  Kiddle,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  Riddle, 
is  a  graduate  of  the  Central  Normal  College.  He  taught 
school  several  years  in  Ohio  township.  He  was  superin- 
tendent of  the  English  schools  one  term.  He  is  one  of  the 
leading  business  men  in  Missouri. 

John  Shafer,  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  of  Lincoln,  Illinois,  is  a  native  of  Jennings  town- 
ship. He  has  been  a  leading  minister  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  for  many  years. 

Lyman  Schoonover,  a  native  of  Whisky  Run  township, 
is  one  of  the  leading  United  Brethren  ministers  of  Ander- 
son, Indiana. 

Knoeful  Summers,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  D.  Summers, 
was  born  in  Marengo.  He  graduated  from  Marengo  High 
School  and  received  his  B.  A.  degree  from  Indiana  Uni- 
versity.  He  was  superintendent  of  the  Marengo  city 
schools  for  four  years.  At  present  he  is  one  of  the  leading 
bankers  of  Louisville. 

Elzie  Lee  Stewart,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  E.  Stewart, 
was  born  at  Tower.  He  graduated  from  Leavenworth 
High  School  and  entered  the  State  Normal  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1911.  After  receiving  his  B.  A.  degree  from 
Indiana  University  he  taught  for  several  years  at  South 
Bend.  At  present  he  is  teaching  in  one  of  the  leading 
cities  of  Michigan. 

Sam  Shaw,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Shaw,  was  a 
native  of  Jennings  township.    After  teaching  school  a  few 


624  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

years  he  entered  the  Louisville  School  of  Medicine  where 
he  graduated.    At  present  he  is  located  at  Shaw,  Colorado. 

Edward  A.  Tower  was  born  near  Leavenworth,  Indiana. 
He  graduated  from  Indiana  State  Normal  in  1891.  He  mar- 
ried and  located  near  Battle  Ground  where  he  was  super- 
intendent of  the  Battle  Ground  schools  for  many  years. 
He  is  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  Tippecanoe  County. 

Emmett  Taylor  was  born  near  Marengo.  He  studied  in 
Professor  Johnson's  Academy.  He  taught  school  at  Alton 
several  years.  He  was  also  principal  of  the  Jeffersonville 
city  schools  for  a  time.     He  is  now  located  in  the  South. 

Mack  Tucker,  son  of  A.  B.  Tucker  and  wife  of  Eckerty, 
attended  school  at  Danville.  He  was  in  the  World  War  and 
went  overseas  for  several  months.  He  returned  to  Amer- 
ica and  graduated  from  Indiana  University  with  distinc- 
tion for  hard  work  and  manly  conduct.  At  present  he  is 
teaching  in  northern  Indiana. 

Lee  Taylor  is  a  native  of  Sterling  township.  He  grad- 
uated from  the  leading  school  of  our  county.  Has  studied 
in  the  East.  At  present  he  is  one  of  the  leading  teachers 
of  the  state. 

Ethel  Beatrice  Tower,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alvin 
Tower,  is  a  Jennings  township  girl.  She  graduated  from 
the  Leavenworth  High  School  in  1910.  She  was  educated 
at  the  Terre  Haute  State  Normal.  She  was  a  teacher 
for  several  years  in  the  Leavenworth  city  schools.  She  is 
now  located  at  Allendale,  Illinois. 


WHO'S  WHO  625 

Joel  Timberlake  is  native  of  Boone  township.  Many 
years  ago  he  moved  to  Mount  Carmel,  Illinois.  In  the  fall 
of  1924  he  was  elected  county  superintendent  of  the 
schools  out  there. 

Ora  Isaiah  Tower,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  R.  Tower,  of 
Tower,  was  a  native  of  Jennings  township.  He  graduated 
from  the  Louisville  School  of  Medicine.  He  is  located  in 
California  where  he  has  made  good. 

Alfonso  W.  Tower  was  a  native  of  Jennings  township. 
He  graduated  from  DePauw  University  and  is  located  in 
Los  Angeles,  California. 

Simon  Vandiveer  was  born  near  English,  Indiana. 
After  teaching  school  a  few  years  he  engaged  in  the  study 
of  law  and  located  at  Princeton  where  he  is  now  one  of 
the  prominent  lawyers  of  the  state.  He  was  appointed 
judge  of  Gibson  County  March  1,  1913. 

Charles  Wood,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benton  Wood,  was 
born  in  Boone  Township.  He  was  graduated  from  the  In- 
diana State  Normal  School  and  is  now  teaching  manual 
training  in  the  city  schools  of  Marion,  Indiana. 

W.  G.  Willis,  a  native  of  West  Fork,  attended  school  at 
Danville.  He  is  one  of  the  strongest  teachers  ever  sent  out 
from  West  Fork. 

Garrett  Reed  Weathers,  son  of  Major  and  Mrs.  W.  V. 
Weathers,  of  Marengo,  is  one  of  the  leading  manual  train- 


626  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

ing  teachers  of  Indiana.    He  was  educated  at  Terre  Haute 
State  Normal. 

Elmer  Lee  Weathers  was  born  in  Marengo,  Indiana. 
For  many  years  he  was  one  of  the  leading  teachers  of 
Crawford  County.  At  present  he  is  located  near  Ham- 
mond, Indiana. 

John  Henry  Weathers  was  born  at  Marengo.  He  stud- 
ied in  the  academy  with  Professor  Johnson.  He  read  law 
at  Leavenworth  and  entered  the  race  for  judge  in  1896, 
being  defeated  by  Judge  Cook  by  fifty-two  votes.  He 
continued  the  study  of  law.  At  present  he  is  one  of  the 
leading  lawyers  of  Indiana.  He  is  a  man  of  high  ideals 
and  is  now  located  at  New  Albany. 

John  Richard  Weathers,  son  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Enoch 
Weathers,  was  born  in  a  log  house  near  Marengo  in  1847. 
He  enlisted  in  the  army  in  1861.  An  account  of  his  war 
experience  is  found  elsewhere  in  this  book.  After  the  war 
Mr.  Weathers  became  a  teacher.  He  was  principal  of  the 
Cannelton  schools  many  years,  at  the  close  of  which  they 
gave  him  a  gold-headed  cane.  He  went  to  Washington  in 
1890  as  a  clerk  and  held  this  position  until  1920.  For 
many  years  Mr.  Weathers  has  been  writing  a  grammar. 
From  his  long  experience  in  school  work  and  his  knowledge 
and  use  of  the  English  language,  one  may  expect  this  book 
to  be  a  valuable  gift  to  all. 

THE    END 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A.     Accounts  and  Published  Documents. 

a.  Documentary  Journals  of  Indiana,  1825-1865,  34  vol. 
These  books  were  very  valuable  for  statistics  on  farm 
products  and  various  other  information. 

b.  De  La  Hunt's,  Thomas  James,  History  of  Perry  Coun- 
ty. This  book  is  very  valuable.  It  has  an  account  of 
Hines'  Raid  on  pages  239-242. 

c.  Esarey's  History  of  Indiana  in  two  large  volumes. 
This  history  is  one  of  the  best  ever  written  on  the  In- 
diana history.  The  writer  has  taken  much  informa- 
tion from  it. 

d.  Indiana  State  Laws,  1818-1865,  29  volumes,  all  of 
which  may  be  found  in  the  State  University  Library 
and  the  State  Library  at  Indianapolis. 

e.  Indiana  School  Journal,  1856-1891,  35  volumes.  Pub- 
lished by  the  Indiana  State  Teachers'  Association. 

f.  Indiana  Year  Book,  1917,  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  4 
volumes.  This  book  gave  the  vote  on  all  elections  and 
state  primaries. 

g.  Indiana  University  Catalogs,  83  volumes.  These 
catalogs  contain  the  names  of  all  students  from  Craw- 
ford County. 

h.  Indiana  House  Journal,   1816-1865,   43   volumes.     A 
very  valuable  book  on  legislation. 
627 


628  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

i.  Leavenworth's  Genealogy  Book,  1634-1870.  This  book 
tells  about  the  life  of  the  Leavenworths. 

j.  Register  of  Graduates,  1830-1916,  Bloomington,  Indi- 
ana. This  book  contains  the  names  of  the  graduates 
of  Indiana  University. 

k.  Report  of  the  State  Auditor,  1848-1865.  In  all  15 
volumes.  These  books  contain  data  relative  to  the 
sale  of  the  school  land  and  other  matters  of  interest. 

1.  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  1830-1920,  40  vol- 
umes in  all.  These  volumes  contain  statistics  on  the 
elections  and  various  other  matters  of  interest  to  the 
state  and  county. 

m.  Souvenir  Biography  of  Crawford  County,  1818-1889. 
This  account  is  very  interesting.  Much  valuable  in- 
formation is  in  the  volume. 

n.  State    Superintendents'   Reports,    1853-1910,   57   vol- 
umes in  all  which  contain  much  interesting  work  on 
the  schools  of  the  state  and  county. 
B.     Manuscripts. 

a.  County  Clerks'  Records.  The  records  of  the  county 
are  very  well  written  and  contain  a  store  house  of 
information  for  the  student  of  history.  They  are 
written  in  old  journals  which  are  very  well  preserved. 
Ouley's  trial  is  in  them. 

b.  County  Commissioners'  Records.  Many  volumes  in 
all.  They  are  written  on  old  journals  like  the  Clerks' 
Records.  They  are  full  of  information  which  will  in- 
terest the  student  of  history.  The  first  book  was 
lost  but  the  records  are  full  from  1824  down  to  the 
present  time. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  629 

c.  Deed  books  of  Crawford  County,  several  volumes. 
They  contain  an  account  of  all  land  transactions. 
Found  in  the  county  recorder's  office  at  English. 

d.  Ear  Mark  Book.  It  contains  the  names  and  the  de- 
scriptions of  all  the  ear  marks  of  the  men  back  in  the 
early  days  when  stock  ran  out. 

e.  The  Indenture  Book.  This  book  contains  the  names 
of  all  the  boys  and  girls  who  have  been  bound  out  in 
the  county. 

f.  Synopsis  Book.  This  is  a  book  written  in  an  old  jour- 
nal by  the  township  trustees  of  Ohio  township  back  in 
the  early  days.  It  is  a  very  valuable  book  telling  the 
record  of  the  early  trustees  from  1837  till  about  1856. 
Found  in  the  township  trustee's  office  of  Ohio  town- 
ship. 

g.  Tract  book  of  Crawford  County.  This  book  is  writ- 
ten on  an  old  journal.  It  contains  the  account  of  the 
sale  of  the  land  in  the  county  when  it  was  bought  from 
the  Government.  From  it  one  can  tell  who  bought 
all  the  farms  of  the  county. 

h.  Early  census  of  the  United  States  of  1820.  It  is  a 
copy  made  from  the  original  census  taken  on  the  above 
date.  One  is  in  the  State  Library  at  Indianapolis, 
Indiana. 

C.     Newspapers  Consulted  in  Preparing  the  Volume. 

a,  Crawford  County  Democrat  and  English  News  from 

1890-1926.      A   very    valuable    collection    of    papers. 

Both  papers  prior  to  1890  were  burned  in  the  big  fire 

which  occurred  in  October  of  1890. 


630  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

b.  Leavenworth  Arena,  Leavenworth,  Indiana.  This 
paper  was  published  from  May,  1838,  till  May,  1841. 
The  three  years  of  the  paper  are  found  in  the  State 
Library  in  Indianapolis.  It  is  a  very  valuable  book 
of  great  worth  to  the  historian. 

c.  Indiana  State  Journal,  1827-1890.  Copies  are  on 
file  in  the  State  Library  at  Indianapolis. 

d.  Indiana  Daily  Sentinel,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

e.  New  Albany  Tribune,  1847-1864. 

f.  New  Albany  Ledger,  1852.  Contains  much  interest- 
ing news  about  river  trade  and  other  matters. 

g.  The  Western  Sim.  Published  at  Vincennes,  1824- 
1827.  This  reference  contains  news  of  the  elections 
and  the  sale  of  the  public  land  and  lots  at  Fredonia 
and  Leavenworth,  Indiana. 

D.     Oral  Information  Furnished  by  these  Men: 

a.  P.  A.  Allen,  Fredonia,  Indiana.  Grandson  of  W.  H. 
Conrad. 

b.  W.  B.  Allen,  Leavenworth,  Indiana,  who  saw  the  bat- 
tle at  Big  Blue  River  when  Hines'  army  was  cap- 
tured. Gave  valuable  information  about  Morgan's 
raid,  too.     Died  last  year,  1925. 

c.  Levi  Brown,  English,  Indiana,  was  a  member  of  the 
23rd  Ind.  Vol.  in  the  Civil  War.     Died  last  year. 

d.  George  Balthis,  Marengo,  Indiana,  one  of  the  oldest 
business  men  in  Crawford  County.  Furnished  infor- 
mation about  Hines'  raid  and  the  growth  of  Marengo. 

e.  S.  A.  Beals,  English,  Indiana,  Ex-Count}^  Superin- 
tendent of  Crawford  County. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  631 

f.  Mrs.  Henry  Collins,  Tower,  Indiana,  granddaughter 
of  Martin  Scott. 

g.  Tom  Ellsworth,  Leavenworth,  Indiana,  furnished  the 
writer  valuable  information  abont  Hines'  raid  and 
Morgan's  raid.  He  was  a  drummer  boy  at  that  time. 
Died  in  1921. 

h.  M.  C.  Froman,  Pilot  Knob,  Indiana,  furnished  much 
information  about  the  early  roads  in  Crawford  Coun- 
ty.    Died  last  year. 

i.  Henry  Green,  Marengo,  Indiana,  grandson  of  Judge 
Henry  Green,  who  helped  preside  at  the  trial  of  Ouley 
in  1818. 

j.  Luther  L.  Jones,  Schooner  Point,  Indiana,  gave  the 
history  of  the  early  Jones  family.    Died  in  1924. 

k.  Elias  Leavenworth,  Leavenworth,  Indiana,  furnished 
the  writer  much  information  about  the  town  of 
Leavenworth  and  the  use  of  the  Leavenworth  geneal- 
ogy book.    Died  in  1920. 

1.  Mrs.  Peter  Ouerbacker,  Leavenworth,  Indiana,  fur- 
nished information  about  Doctor  Hawn,  her  father. 
Also  the  story  of  Press  O'Bannon. 

m.  Mrs.  Sallie  Peabody,  Leavenworth,  Indiana,  fur- 
nished information  about  Hines.  She  saw  him  and 
talked  to  him  as  his  army  passed  her  home  on  the 
raid. 

n.  M.  R.  Pierson,  who  helped  capture  Hines'  men  and 
who  was  in  Captain  Aydelotte's  company  who  routed 
the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle  at  Brownstown  in 
1864. 

o.  Andrew  Rothrock,  English,  Indiana,  gave  much  in- 
formation about  the  Wyandotte  Cave. 


632  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

p.  M.  E.  Stewart  gave  much  information  about  the  death 

of  Briley  and  the  hanging  of  Ouley  at  Mt.  Sterling, 
q.  Turley  brothers  of   English   gave  much  information 

about  Ouley 's  grave  and  his  death, 
r.  A.    E.    Weathers,    James    H.    Weathers   and    W.    V. 

Weathers  gave  much  information   about  the   county 

history  and  the  war. 
s.  George   E.   Wiseman,   Beechwood,   Indiana,   gave  the 

author  much  information  about  the  Civil  War  and 

the  early  settlers, 
t.   Mrs.     Maher,     Leavenworth,    Indiana,     Leavenworth 

schools,  trustee. 

E.     Other  Sources  of  Information. 

a.  Terrel's  Reports.  These  books  contain  the  war  rec- 
ords and  the  names  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Civil  War. 

b.  World  Almanac.     It  contains  the  vote  for  president. 

c.  Old  Whig  Almanac.  It  gave  the  vote  from  1828  down 
till  about  1852.  A  wonderful  book  for  such  informa- 
tion. 

d.  The  Life  of  Oliver  P.  Morton,  by  Foulk.  It  has  a 
fine  account  of  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle. 

e.  Many  other  sources  too  numerous  to  mention. 


WORLD    WAR    ROYS 

The  list  of  the  boys  submitted  here  could  not  be  ob- 
tained in  time  to  list  them  with  the  first  list  which  con- 
tains the  names  taken  from  the  newspapers.  The  first  list 
contains  the  names  of  boys  from  other  counties,  too.  At 
that  time  there  was  no  way  of  getting  the  exact  list  till  the 
National  Government  sent  the  names  to  the  State  and  then 
the  Adjutant  General  had  to  get  the  names  sorted  out.  So 
these  given  here  are  additional  ones : 

Army 


George  Abel 
Carter    Adams 
Arthur  Adkins 
Clarence    Arter 
Will  Archibald 
Wm.   Armstrong 
Claud  Atkins 
Fred  Atkins 
Ivan  Atkins 
Benny  Austin 
Guy  Austin 
Omer  Baker 
Roy  Baker 
Russell  Barry 
Forest  Bell 
Coy  Bennett 
Herman  Bennett 
Sam  Bennett 


David  Benz 
Chas.  Black 
Aian  Bitner 
Raymond  Bolden 
Arnel  Boman 
Ray  Boss 
Will  Bowman 
Louis  Brandenburg 
Jesse   Brandenburg 
Claud   Brown 
Rosco  Brown 
John   Buchanan 
Arthur  Bullington 
Oliver  Bullington 
Burgess  Burton 
John  E.  Byrd 
Zenor  Campbell 
Levi  Carberry 


633 


634 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


Frank  Carroll 
Win.   Carroll 
Raymond  Carter 
Rush  Carter 
Earl   Carver 
Chas.    Cline 
Herman  Collins 
Cressy   Cooper 
Earl  Corbett 
Oral  Cornelison 
James  Courtney 
Wm.  Crawford 
Clarence   Crabtree 
Emmitt   Cummins 
Ezra  Cummins 
Seottie  Cummins 
Victor  Cummins 
Bryan  Cunningham 
Chas.  Cunningham 
Clyde  Cuzzort 
Arthur  Davis 
Clarence  Davis 
Roy  Davis 
Reuben  Davis 
Howard  Davis 
H.  H.  Deen 
Omer  Deich 
Raleigh  Denbo 
Torrence  DeWitt 
Vollie  DeWitt 
George  Dooley 
Lewis  Dooley 
Thomas  Dooley 
Chester  East 
Edward  East 
Ernest  Elliott 
Edward  East 
Fonnie   Elliott 


Elbert  Ewing 
Bayless  Fears 
Thomas  Finch 
Tom  Fishers 
George  Fitch 
Harry  Foutch 
Wm.  H.  Foutch 
Fred  Frans 
Floyd  Fleming 
Garland  Froman 
Ray  Froman 
Ernest  Funk 
Edward  Gaither 
James  Gaither 
Joseph  Galey 
Lee  Garriatt 
Earl  Gilmore 
Newton  Gilmore 
Arthur    Goldman 
Cecil  Goldman 
Floyd  Goldman 
Oscar  Goldman 
Andy  Goldman 
Benny   Goodwin 
Chas.   Green 
Peter  Grant 
Gordon  Green 
Harry  Green 
Eli  Gresham 
Wm.  J.  Grime 
Everett  Hall 
Alphonso  Hall 
Orvil  Hall 
Roy  Hall 
Clarence  Hamer 
John  Hammond 
Lincoln  Hammond 
Esarey   Hammond 


WORLD  WAR  BOYS 


635 


Major  Hancock 
Ernest  Hanger 
Ollie  Hanger 
Jonas  Handspire 
Burnes  Head 
Floyd  Hedden 
Frank  Henden 
Frank   Henderson 
Roy  Heninger 
Rupert  Higginbotham 
George  Highfill 
John  Highfill 
Loran  Highfill 
George  Hilgert 
Jesse  Hilgert 
Roy  Hobson 
Temple  Hollcroft 
Harry  Hollen 
Nathan  Hollen 
Thurman   Hollen 
Leslie  Hollowell 
Orcel  Hooten 
George  Hoten 
Claud  House 
Arvil  Jenkins 
Ernest  Jenkins 
Chas.  Jones 
Max  Jones 
Fred  Judd 
Wilbur  Judd 
Wilford  Judd 
Clarence  Kaiser 
Win.  E.  Kellams 
George  Kellams 
Wayne  Kelly 
John  W.  Kemp 
Henry  Kennison 
John  Key 


Luther  King 
John   Land 
Lane  Land 
Wm.   O.  Land 
Chas.   Lanham 
Orville  Lanham 
Walter  Laswell 
Tom  Lavin 
Isaac  Lawrence 
Ernest  Leasor 
Nolan  Level 
Louis  W.  Lewis 
Bert   Lockhart 
Harry  Lofton 
Russell  Lofton 
Wm.  Lofton 
Manford  Lowe 
Emery  Lynch 
Chester  Lynch 
Sam  McAdams 
Wm.  McDonald 
Oscar  McDonald 
Wm.  McDonald 
Wm.  McDonald 
Norman  McFarland 
Chas.  McGovern 
James  McGovern 
Chas.  May 
Chas.  Melton 
Wm.  K.  Melton 
Dudley  Meriwether 
Joe  Miley 
Ray  Miller 
Chas.  E.  Mills 
Chas.  H.  Mills 
George    Mills 
Robert  Mills 
Lon  D.  Mitchell 


636 


HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


Earl  Mock 
Floyd    Mock 
Ellis  Moore 
Felix  Moore 
Dewey   Morgan 
Thomas   T.   Morgan 
Allen  Myers 
John  Myers 
George  Newkirk 
Delle   Norman 
Owen   Okes 
Jacob  Osborn 
Wm.  J.  Parke 
Sanford  Patton 
Zelbert   Pavey 
Chas.  Pearson 
Forest  Pearson 
Chas.   Pittman 
Leonard  Paul 
Russell  Pro 
Johnie  Proctor 
Thomas  Eails 
Mike  Eainbolt 
Herbert  Rawlings 
Roy  Real 
Earl    Rhodes 
Harry  Roach 
Harmon  Robertson 
Omer    Robertson 
Oscar  Roberson 
Everett  Rogers 
Gordon  Root 
Joseph  R.  Ross 
Hubert  Rothrock 
Ed  Sacksteder 
James  B.  Saltsgaver 
Perry   Saltsgaver 
Floyd  Satterfield 


Arthur   Sauerheber 
Chas.   Shotter 
Albert   Scott 
George  Shafer 
James   Sharp 
Zell  Shaver 
Chas.    Simcox 
Lewis  Simson 
Alpheus   Sloan 
Chas.   Sloan 
George   Sloan 
Carl  Smith 
Chas.    Smith 
James  H.  Smith 
James  R.   Smith 
Wm.   Smith 
Lester  Snider 
Knoeful    Spencer 
Emery  Starkey 
Ernie    Stephenson 
Ralph  Stephenson 
Arthur  Stewart 
Earl   E.    Stewart 
Leonard   Stewart 
Oliver  G.   Stewart 
Norman  Stonecipher 
Arlus   Stonecipher 
Chas.  Stroud 
Ernest  Stroud 
Ivan  Stroud 
Reuben   Stroud 
Chas.    Sturgeon 
Jacob   Sturgeon 
Ernest   Sturms 
Raymond  Sturms 
Addie  Summers 
Ermal  Sutton 
Orval  Sutton 


WORLD  WAR  BOYS 


637 


Raymond  Sutton 
Vivian   Taggart 
Lon   Taylor 
Merle  Taylor 
Wm.  Taylor 
Fred  Thornbury 
Wm.  D.  Thornbury 
Roy  Timberlake 
Ervin  Toney 
Harold  Tower 
Clarence   Trinkle 
Loran  Trobaugh 
Wm.  Trobaugh 
A.  R.  Turner 
Carl  Unselt 
John  Unselt 
Douglas   Vance 
Silas  Van  Winkle 
Wm.   VanWinkle 
Ben  Walls 


Ben   Walton 
John  Walton 
Ollic  Walton 
Wm.  L.  Walton 
Albert  Weathers 
W.  H.  Weathers 
C.  W.  Wells 
Edgar  White 
Willie  White 
Archie  Whitlow 
Lindell   Whitlow 
Floyd  Williams 
William  T.  Williams 
Marion  Wiseman 
Marshall  Wiseman 
Oscar  Wiseman 
Chancy  Wright 
Dan   Yates 
Chas.    Zimmerman 


Navy 


Lewis  Agan 
Rufus   Baker 
A.  N.  Bobbitt 
Ernest  Brown 
Ray  Crews 
Isaac  Curts 
Fred  Davis 
Lloyd  Dean 
Harvey  DeWeese 
Earl  Dodd 
Win.   Dooley 
Roscoe  Everdon 
John   Glazier 
Elmer  Hanger 
Reuben  Harris 


Kay  Hollcroft 
Loniel  Howell 
Chas.  Hubbard 
Wm.  Hubbard 
Elmer  Jenkins 
Wilford  Jenkins 
Raymond  Jones 
Walter  Landers 
Luther  Lane 
Howard   Melton 
James  Mills 
Jesse  Mills 
Iris  Mock 
Arian  Mock 
Robert  Monk 


638  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 

Leonard  Newton  David  Sharp 

Wm.  O.  Newton  Felix  Sloan 

Elwood  Ott  Claude  Speedy 

Nolan  Pedoga  Claude  Stephenson 

Lyman  Rainforth  James  Tadlock 

Novie  Eoberson  Floyd  Thompson 

Ivirby  Rogers  Cecil  Weathers 

Gort  Rogers  Lynn  Weathers 

Ernest  Satterfield  •    Leroy  Wellman 
Carl  Sharp  Martin  Zahnd 


GENERAL  INDEX 


GENERAL  INDEX 

(  X umbers  after  names  refer  to  pages) 


Arena-Paper     47 

Assessors     71-216-226 

Agricultural   Society    98 

Adoption  Book    Ill 

Alton      120-122 

Attwood      123 

Attendance      207-209 

Avers     220 

Allen      270-271-279-455 

Allstott ..277 

Adams     380-400-498-379 

Batman     7-21-361 

Bank    216-426-458-592 

Ballard    468 

Beals    19-329-377-425 

Bell     457-459 

Benz     382-390-479-558 

Beasley     6 

Birkla      126 

Bird     574 

Biller     224 

Bloody 144-247 

Black     228 

Blue   River   Meeting    House..    10 

Big    Springs     153-218 

Big  Blue  Bridge  213-324-332-353 

Board  of   Review    113 

Bowles    118-261-278 

Brown     494-401-400 

641 


Bobbitt     372-390-497-571 

Boyd    389-477 

Bogard    403 

Button    Mill    457 

Byrum    ....487-481-597 

Bye    371 

Bulls    99 

Briley    22 

Boone 10-110 

Cave     114-421 

Canning    Factory    424 

Carnes     199 

Carding   Machine    101 

Census      81-99 

Clark     28-140-468 

Campaign  of  1840    103-104 

Campbell     449 

Claycomb's  Letter    469 

Charivari     170 

Conrad    44-45-39 

Crews     470-473 

Cost  of  the  County     111-216-227 

Coffee     166 

Courting     175 

Coal     178 

Cole     179 

Coxey's    Army    411 

Cuzzort     415-465 

County  Board    116 


642  HISTORY  OF  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


County    Seminary    64-65-140 

Curry 's  Grocery   38 

County   Seat    34-343-406 

Collins     234 

Deuschar     127 

Dexter     ' . .  195 

Dunn's   Article    248-428 

Davis     503 

Deen    460 

De  Witt  's  Article    544 

Doolittle    ' 457 

Dry   Eun  Bridge    317 

Election  of  1824   71-73-74 

Election  Contested  78 

Elections       79-90-92-100-101-104- 

117-144-412-414. 

Election  of   1836    93 

English    150-381 

Earmark 164 

Everdon     174-321 

Examiners    206 

Enumeration    206 

Editor  of  School  Journal  ...211 

Election  of  1864   220-324 

Elections  Continued  222-224-334- 

325-347. 

Eckerty     443 

Elliott     541 

Ellsworth    462 

English  Monument  466 

Ewing     494 

Faulkner 's   Whisky    323 

Fullenwider      9-10-328 

Floyd     11-21 

Funk     16-226-487 

Froman     319 

Flanigan    391-475 

Flatboat     141-143 


Ferry  Rates    67-75 

Frye     43. 

Fields 27 

Fredonia    30-444 

Fell 's  Letter   100 

Fund  Report    136 

Forty-Ninth     238 

Fifty-Third    241 

Fire   Department    436 

Green     8-21 

Glenn    8-21-129 

Goodman      155-406 

Golden-Ed   Hall    279 

Gray %  Governor 's  Letter   . .  346 

Goldman     374 

Gregory     470 

Gold  Star  Book    502 

Hall   21-26-134-367 

Hammond     385-394-493 

Hanger    478 

Hawn     355-471 

SUPPLEMENT 

Jail   Received    112 

Jennings    3-12 

Jones    4-474-475 

Jenkins 141 

Jerico    School    200 

Johnson  Township    216 

Johnson      423-430 

Keye    597 

Kemp     17 

Kendall     146 

Kelso     320 

Kinkaid     9-10 

Knight     279-500 

K.  G.  Circle   256-275 

Leavenworth     20-42-49-53 

Leavenworth    Arena    ..47-95-100 


(i  i:\ERAL  INDEX 


643 


Leavenworth   Town     48-56-57-62- 

67-446-454. 
Leavenworth     Manufacturing 

Co 59 

Leavenworth    Seminary    ..63-202 
Leavenworth  Incorporated  67-448 

Land    Tax    77 

Leavenworth  State  Lines    ...   96 

Lyceum     101 

Liberty   Township    108-154 

Hartford      80-186 

Harrison     154 

Hines     263 

Hiestand  Letter    432 

Hollcrof  t     20-124-126-493 

Hobbs    190 

Houghton     201 

Highf  ill    488 

Huff      480 

Indian  Hollow  Bridge    ...11-219 

Little    Blue    113-217-399-402 

Leavenworth  and  Salem  Eoad  132 
Leavenworth-Clay   Turnpike    135 

Lime  Kiln    173 

Log  Schools    185-210 

Lemonds,   James    217-219 

Lynch    225 

Liquor     324 

Luckett     389-409-470 

Land   Sale    398 

Lee    441 

Lodges     559 

Mansfield     18-244-262 

Mail  in  1830    46 

Magnolia    118 

Marengo   Fair    401-418 

Masons    556 

Market  in  1838    95-97 


Mifflin    443 

Mill  Creek  Bridge    351 

Mullen    597 

Milltown     151-152-435-438 

Mexican  War  Letter   565 

Methodist  Church  70-142-176-177 

Mock     483 

Morgan     19-485-280 

Morton    260 

Myers     125-497-516-514 

Murray      380 

Monk     74 

Mount    Sterling    2-4-11 

McCullum     255 

New  Albany  Ledger   155 

Neal    227 

Ouiska     3 

Ouley,    James    21 

Occupations      156 

Ohio   Township    209 

Officers  in  1860   215 

O'Bannan  Press   320 

Parr,  Burton 18 

Parker     396 

Pankey      439 

Payton    .' 473 

Panic     410 

Patrick    216-222-5-6 

Pepper    7 

Presbyterians      70-146 

Peckenpaugh      4-160-162 

Pilot   Knob    139 

Pierson    373-269 

Pike   Elections    464-482-557 

Princeton    Eoad    

Pleasant     378-380 

Poor    Farm    109-110-148-149-214- 
350. 


644 


HISTORY  OP  CRAWFORD  COUNTY 


Poor     74-108 

Raiuboldt      461-490-514 

Rice    388-392 

Reunion    384 

Railroad    507 

Republicans    471-472-484 

Ridge     227 

Reynolds     137 

Riddle      101 

Ross    436-516 

Royal  Hub  Co 454 

Robertson     376 

Rothrock     142 

Roads     128-138 

Seventeenth  Regiment   230 

Sixty-Sixth     242 

Slick    Run    318 

Stewart     356-10-21 

Springston     360-362 

Speed   and   Co 434 

Stephenson     483 

Smith     11-15-46-495 

Summers     480 

Sonner      387-474 

Suddarth      391-486 

Stock  Law    349 

Scott     329-11 

Soldiers'    Claims     272 

Sands    11 

Scott    Township    52 

Seat   of   Justice    66-76-106 

Sloan     80 

Stoves     98 

Salt     98-165-167 

Sands    112 

Sheckels     11-18 

Supervisors     71 

School    Election    121 

Shooting   Match    169 


Spelling     180 

Walter    Seacat    220 

Tadlock     14-58-184-214 

Thorn    30-32-40-46-35-32-34 

Tavern   Rates    37 

Tax   Rates    Ill 

Twenty- Third     230 

Turley     387-393-591 

Toney     77-554 

Totten    10-73 

Township    Trustees    145-223-482- 
193-223-492-477. 

Turnpike  Co 414 

Thomasson's    Donation    ..92-108 

Township    Boundary    87 

Tucker      .1-36-73 

Township   Superintendents    .  .    74 

Taswell      441 

Vote  of  1839    101-104 

Voorhees     259 

Voting   Precincts    356 

Union   Township    40-79 

Walker     4-20 

Weathers     12-13-283-406 

Wiseman 15 

Williams    17-228 

Whigs      105 

Wyandotte     142-215 

Wilks     90 

Woodford     100-18-19 

Wiley,    Elam    66-107 

Wolf  's   Horse    218 

Wright    493 

White  Caps    338 

Whiskey    496 

Who's    Who     609 

Wiser 514 

Zimmerman    375 


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